Art of War
by RyanForestCafe
Summary: Sometimes trying to keep something from happening just might not work out. Sometimes it's not as bad as it seems but when you get caught in the middle of it, you'll find yourself going crazy. Sometimes protecting your baby brother will only make matters worse and you'll be going off to fight for him, to fill in his already filled in spot.
1. Chapter 1

**So... We started to RP again. Well I did. Co-Author is **Crazy Adamantine, my older sister. I'm RPing with her for now.****

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><p>Hiro wasn't sure what to tell his brother and Aunt Cass. How does one tell their beloved family members that they had been drafted into an all-out war? It's not like it was some everyday dinner conversation. "Oh hey, by the way, we're in a war, How was your evening?" Despite wanting it to be as casual, it was much more complicated than that. It didn't help that his older brother, Tadashi, was in the hospital being treated for burns. It was a long story that involved an exploding building.<p>

After nearly losing one of the brothers, now the other was to be shipped off to possible doom. How was Aunt Cass going to take that? She'd been trying her hardest to smile for Hiro while Tadashi was in the hospital, who would keep her company while Hiro was gone? Would Tadashi be able to keep her calm while Hiro was away?

... Was she going to start stress eating? Who would she talk to at home? Well, there was Mochi, but a cat couldn't be a good conversing partner. Only a good listener.

"What am I going to do?"While Hiro beat himself up over what to do, Aunt Cass was down at the cafe, taking orders and baking things for Hiro to snack on while she was working. She would have asked Hiro to help out but she knew that he was still a bit upset over what had happened to Tadashi, she decided to leave him alone.

Until she wanted him to eat, that is.

Hiro knew he couldn't keep this from his family forever. He had to think of as reasonable an explanation as possible, one that won't cause any panic. Well, easier said than done. Just about every explanation brought about grief.

"What am I going to do?" he asked again, this time facing Mochi. The fat calico just rubbed at his leg, taking no heed of the question. So much for good listener, or maybe Mochi only listened to Aunt Cass and Tadashi.

It seemed as though Hiro had been worrying about it all day long, he ignored every single call from Aunt Cass, which was really dangerous, and after the umpteenth time she'd called him and received no answer, Aunt Cass walked up the stairs from the second floor to see what was going on with her youngest nephew.

"Hiro, dinner's been ready fifteen minutes ago," she said to him when she saw him.

Hiro had been holding a letter from the military shortly before he was at a loss, and he quickly hid it behind his back. "O-oh? I'll be down right away, then," he said, hiding as much nervousness as he could. He slipped the letter up into his jacket, as that was probably the most inconspicuous thing he could do at the time, and quickly headed downstairs.

Aunt Cass raised a brow at him and watched as he retreated to the kitchen. Since when did he start acting like that? She didn't want to dwell on it but it began to bother her that something was making him nervous all of a sudden. So she followed Hiro and began to get very concerned.

"Hiro?" She asked. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. You know, same old, same old." Hiro wasn't mentally prepared yet and could only spout nonsense. It was too late to pretend he was still hung up on Tadashi's hospitalization, and Aunt Cass was already suspicious. "Well, actually, I think I drank some coffee earlier. Yeah, that's it. I drank coffee. Nothing too unusual."

Aunt Cass didn't believe him for a second. She crossed her arms and gave him a look that basically said "Liar" but she didn't press on. Instead she sighed in audibly and shook her head.

"No more caffeine for you, then," she said.

Well, it didn't work, but at least she wasn't pressing for more information. "Yup. I learned my lesson." The letter in his jacket was on the verge of falling out and he couldn't help but glance downwards nervously, as if begging the piece of paper to stay where it was until he could put it away properly.

Aunt Cass walked over to where he was and pulled him into a hug. She knew something was wrong and she knew he wouldn't tell her so she hugged him instead.

"If you need to talk to anyone, you can come to me, okay?" Before he even gave her an answer she started up again. "Now finish your food, brush your teeth, and you can go on up to bed. Sleep of the sugar." She offered a smile before returning to the cafe to officially close up. Hiro was thankful for the hug in two ways: it provided comfort that he didn't know he needed and the letter was held in place for just a little while longer. He could only sigh in relief as Aunt Cass left to tend to the cafe.

Grabbing the plate of food left on the counter, he hurried back upstairs to plan how to deliver the news. This wasn't like high school. It wasn't going to be easy.

Sitting on his bed, he reread the letter. Yep, definitely a total war. One of the countries far away that had been trying to dominate Eurasia refused to back down and was now using all resources to achieve its goal, making it a considerable threat. The rest of the world could only retaliate by using all their own resources as well, and such resources included potential soldiers as young as Hiro himself.

If anyone knew a thing about soldiers that young, it was that many of them don't return home alive, or even at all.

Aunt Cass had heard about this thing, she dreaded the day they chose Hiro. She feared they may not give him a choice in the matter, that her baby boy would be taken from her. She didn't want to be the one to break the news to Tadashi if it ever happened to Hiro.

You know how protective Tadashi could get. If his baby brother was going to be forced into an army he would volunteer himself in Hiro's stead no matter how much pain he is in.

Cass was not the best person to be in the army but if she had to choose, she'd let herself in to ensure her two boys' safety for a little longer.

She dreaded the day Hiro would get chosen. Who wouldn't dread the day of a draft? She didn't want him to leave, but what made him so special compared to all the other boys his age who were being forced to go?

The last few customers either had newspapers up or were discussing the drafts. One man bragged about how his son was a soldier in the army, but if only he knew the consequences of something as small as a misstep.

Cass tried to block out the conversations, but it was a bit difficult to do when she needed to be attentive to her customers' needs.

Hiro sat up in his room, staring at the letter and he sighed. He wanted to throw up. If he didn't sign up, would they come and force him in? Would they leave him alone and let him live with Aunt Cass peacefully?

"What am I going to do?" He found himself asking for the third time that day.


	2. Chapter 2

**XD I'm going to be laughing at you for a while.**

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><p>Have you ever been through that moment where your nose is plugged up and it feels like you're gonna sneeze but you aren't and then your eyes start to get watery?<p>

Well that's how Tadashi felt. You'd think that being burned and all would actually make you NOT want to sneeze but he really wanted to sneeze. All he'd been doing in this stupid hospital bed was sniffling because he really wanted to sneeze and he was trying to make himself do it.

He was pretty sure one of the doctors was laughing at that.

It didn't help that his sniffling was loud and incredibly noisy. An entire classroom could tell he was suffering from cold.

"Ugh... Where's the tissue?" he asked no one in particular, his voice a bit nasally. Almost like that squid-octopus thing he once saw in a cartoon he and Hiro used to watch. It was around 10 in the morning, just a minute before John Winchester died. Hiro would usually visit around this time to lighten up his mood. But when he did come, he looked nervous, as if he had broken a house down.

"Hiro, what's up?" For a moment, he worried that his brother had gotten into a fight, but there was no sign of pain. "Get caught while bot fighting?" This time, he was a bit more serious. It better not have been a bot fight.

Hiro forced a smile. "What? No, are you kidding? How can I go bot fighting when you're stuck here?" He laughed nervously. "I just had a bit of coffee today. Couldn't sleep last night, but I don't want to miss a visit."

Tadashi raised a brow at him. Unlike Aunt Cass, he usually pressed Hiro's buttons to get the information out, knowing very well that Hiro sucked at taking large amounts of pressure.

"Uh huh," he said, pretending to buy it. "You can fool bot fighters but you can't fool me. Spill it, baby brother."

Hiro was waving his hands in front of him as if he was trying to tell the truth. "I-it's really nothing!" he insisted. "Well, I guess coffee is something, but I mean it's just so good yet so bad!"

"Hiro, when you talk about coffee, that means you're hiding something," Tadashi stated as if he was stating a fact about some species of animal. "If it's not bot fighting, what is it? Someone bothering you? Did you accidentally walk into the ladies' restroom? Or maybe even on purpose?" He chuckled as the younger Hamada began spouting about how he'd never walk into the ladies' room, his face all red and full of embarrassment.

Hiro looked away, huffing. Even in the hospital, a place that smells like it had been ramen week, Tadashi could be really immature... "I'm not a pervert," he muttered. He wasn't really insulted, just playing along with the mood. "And there is something bothering me, yes. It's NOT walking in the ladies' restroom, though!"

Tadashi shrugged. "You're at the age to be a little... curious," he said with a sly smirk. "In all seriousness, tell me. I'm all ears." To emphasize, he put his hands behind his ears and moved them, similar to how an elephant would. "What's on your mind? You can talk to your aniki."

"Well your ears _are_ huge," Hiro said, trying to change the topic. He didn't want to tell Tadashi, knowing very well that he'd start getting protective like a mother bear... 'cept he's the brother. Brother bear.

Tadashi stuck his tongue out at him, hence the "immature" statement. "Seriously, though. What's wrong?"

"It's not _that_ important, I'll learn to get over it." No I won't, Hiro added silently. Being drafted into war wasn't something you could easily get over.

"If it wasn't that important, you wouldn't be trying to avoid it," Tadashi pointed out once more. "Bot fighting, for example. It didn't matter much to you, so you don't bother to hide your plans on going fighting again, even after I had to save your sorry little behind over and over again." He watched as Hiro attempted to grin sheepishly. He couldn't even do that properly. "Even your forced smile is off! Hiro, I mean it. What's going on?"

Hiro rubbed at his face and made another attempt at a smile. Tadashi's making him nervous again, for frick's sake, why can't he let it go?

Shut up, don't start singing.

"W-well that's because you're making me nervous about it, Tadashi! I mean I-I can easily get over it soon..." Oh yeah, his "brotherly love" is showing. That's funny. "I just need to figure out how to tell Aunt Cass, too, you know?" Shoot, that was the wrong thing to say. He just dropped another clue bomb on Tadashi.

Tadashi was getting closer to the truth. "So Aunt Cass doesn't know either? Now I know this is serious." He sat up, which was still rather painful to do. "Is someone hurting you? Threatening you?" He put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Tell me now and then you won't have to worry. I'll never let them lay a hand on you."

"No! No one is threatening me!" It was technically true. It was just something that was threatening him... Knowing now that he couldn't get himself out of it, might as well drop the bomb now. He pulled out the drafting letter and showed it to Tadashi. "That's what's been bothering me, okay?"

Tadashi stared at the letter for a moment before ripping it out of Hiro's hands and reading it... over and over and over again. "Drafted...? Are they serious?!" He blinked once, twice, a few more times, hoping the letter would either change or disappear. Fear began to bubble up, then rage as he threw the damned piece of paper onto the ground. "ARE THEY SERIOUS?! YOU'RE ONLY FOURTEEN!" He attempted to get out of bed, formulating some plan to get his brother out of this. "I don't care if we're in total war, I'm not letting my baby brother get sent off like a lamb to slaughter!"

Hiro had to push Tadashi back, which wasn't hard to do what with the latter's injured state. "See?! This is why I didn't want to tell you!" he exclaimed. "I'll think of something, okay? Who knows? Maybe they'll send me back. I don't look like soldier material, after all."

The elder Hamada shook his head. "You should have learned this, Hiro. In total war, they get desperate. They'll send anyone who fits their criteria, and you're part of the next _batch_." He hissed that last word as if it had been a curse word. In the context of this situation, it may as well have been.

Hiro sighed, frustrated. Tadashi was perfectly fine the way he was before, joking about him going into the ladies' restroom. The letter was like a charm of anger and despair, once you let someone else see it, it'll ruin their happy mood. God, Aunt Cass would definitely start stress eating...

"So I got no choice but to go." Hiro finally sighed in defeat. There was no point in resisting.

This wasn't in his plans for life. He didn't actually expect to be drafted into war. He was going to live a peaceful life with Aunt Cass and Tadashi, that's what he'd been planning on doing. Going to war wasn't part of his list.

But he could still cross that out. Maybe cross off the last item before dying. Saving the best for last was shit, war was not the best and he was going to die in it. Perfect.

"I'll be okay," he said, promising nothing. "I'll come back when it's all over and we can move on like nothing's been happening."

Tadashi shook his head again. "Don't you know what happens to kids your age in war? They get killed first! It's always the new guys," he explained, finishing with a bitter tone. "Maybe we can hide you somewhere. Or we can bribe the officers. Pretend you're insane? No, that didn't work with Odysseus..." He was tapping his head for something, anything, that could ensure Hiro stayed home.

"Tadashi, if we bribe them, it'll hurt Aunt Cass' funds. How would she pay for the apartment? And your hospital bills? She'll have to work harder than ever. It's not fair to ask her to pay the officers for me," Hiro said quietly. "I have no choice but to go." He remembered all the kids his age who were afraid of going to war. Sure, they admired the soldiers, but they didn't want to be just like them.

War wasn't as fun and cool as the movies made them out to be. You would be forced to watch your comrades die, it's a place where friends are absolutely out of the picture. If you wanted to live, you weren't allowed to get attached to any of the other soldiers. "I'll find a way. We can't think if we're panicked, Tadashi, you know that. So calm down, take a deep breath, and figure something out from there."

To be sure, Tadashi did feel bad that the idea of bribing would make things harder for Aunt Cass, but surely she would agree that Hiro's life was worth it. "I'm sure Aunt Cass won't mind. She won't be working alone, for sure, and we'd much prefer struggling to get by than having to live without you." He couldn't calm down, though, now that he knew his brother was in danger. "Anyway, that's probably our best option, at least until we find a better one. We should manage as long as we don't meet one of those asshole cops."

Hiro began to protest, he wasn't even sure if that was worth it. "Tadashi, I'm not worth the amount they'll force out of you guys. They would charge you hundreds and in times like this, we won't make enough to pay it off!" He picked the letter up off the ground and stared at it before ripping it up and throwing it in the trash. Yeah, being drafted was not the topic that made him happy. He was actually kind of pissed off, even more so when his brother was being _really_ stubborn this time. "We can't bribe the cops, alright? I can hide up in the room or the attic or even in the garage but bribing is out of the question."

Hiding would have been the second best option, but Tadashi recalled these were desperate times. "They might search every nook and cranny for you. Argh! Why?! Why can't I think of something?!" he shouted in frustration. The stress was wearing him out and he hadn't fully recovered yet. "Why did it have to be you?" He took a few moments to breathe. "When do you have to report to them?"

Hiro thought back to it. The letter said somewhere along next week, but would he really tell him that? He sighed and shook his head. Yeah, he's knee-deep in this now. "I don't remember... I just know it's some day next week," he muttered, though sounding angry. He was defeated. "I could do it, Tadashi, I can report to them tomorrow if they're really that desperate. And if you really don't want me to go, I can keep away from them. I'll hide somewhere they can't reach, I could even go flying on Baymax for the time being until they leave the house. I won't even be in their line of sight, just stop making such a big deal about me being drafted."

He knew Tadashi wouldn't stop making a big deal out of it, he was like a mama bear. If the baby is in trouble he would do anything to keep him here. Even if it meant running out of the hospital right now with his burned injuries, he always did something to make sure Hiro was safe.

"Just don't tell Aunt Cass," Hiro pleaded. He was like the army: desperate. He didn't want Aunt Cass to fuss about it nor did he want her to start eating everything in the cafe. "I'll figure out a way to break the news to her, just don't say anything."

Tadashi thought about it for a moment. He didn't want to keep this a secret, but maybe their aunt could afford to stay in the dark a while longer. "Alright, but I'll give you only a few days. If she still doesn't know, I'm breaking the news to her," he said with great reluctance. "For now, just think of some way out. You can't hide forever. They won't let you."

Hiro wasn't excited about the deadline but he had to figure something out, see if he could tell Aunt Cass _and_ keep her from stress eating when he told her. If all else fails, he'd end up making Tadashi tell her. Hiro sighed but nodded. "Fine." They wouldn't let him hide forever, that was true. But what they could do is see how useless he'd be. He wouldn't be helpful for them and if they figure that out before they shoved him onto the battlefield... He didn't really want to ask, fearing it would be a stupid question but he had never studied war, believing it wouldn't be a relevant topic in his robotics studies, but now would be as good a time as any. "What do they do to useless soldiers, Tadashi?"

Tadashi himself had limited knowledge of what the military did with uncooperative soldiers. "They jail you for some days. I heard the treatment is horrible," he finally answered. "If you're lucky, they send you home, but most penalties are military detention. It's nothing like the detentions in grade school. If they're desperate or corrupted enough, you might be put on the front lines to... distract the enemy."

Hiro nodded and sighed. He looked at the clock to see it was now 11:11 AM and he smiled slightly at that. Time had a funny way of giving hope. "Well that sounds _fun_," he said sarcastically. "Distract the enemy at all costs. We got a streaker a couple yards away." He didn't want to make it sound like it was a bad thing even if it was. He wanted to lighten the mood a little. "Anyone ever throw a party?"

The elder shrugged. "I guess, but do you really think they have time for parties?" Maybe after the war, but who knew how long that would take? "And who could party with all the death around? Really, no one can think of throwing one unless they're insane."

"Wait so no one pulled the streaker method?" Hiro asked, feigning disappointment. "That's sad. It would have been nice to see an idiot strip and throw off a bunch of army men." Well no, it wouldn't have been nice to see that, it actually may have been a little traumatizing but it'll be funny in the end. "You know, and then making it out alive to tell the story..."

Tadashi would have snorted at the thought if it wasn't so serious. "Maybe if someone could invent an invisible invincibility suit," he said with a dry chuckle. "_That_ would really throw them off. 'Hey, we're shooting this naked guy, but he ain't fallin'!'" He wasn't sure who to imitate, so he took some old-time gangster accent.

Hiro's mood began to lift into amusement. He wasn't sure if gangsters actually joined wars to assist their homes, but the way Tadashi imitated them was hilarious. "I didn't know soldiers were gangsters," he laughed.

"Remember, Hiro: desperation," Tadashi said. "Anyone can be a soldier." Even psychopaths, but he hoped his brother won't be stuck with one if he must encounter one. "Well, most people. Some really can't, and then they're left alone. Their problems aren't really worth the break either, though."

And then they were back there. Hiro nodded and rested his head on Tadashi's hospital bed. He didn't want to stand up to go back to the cafe. He buried his face in the mattress and groaned in frustration. "I'm tempted to call Aunt Cass and drop the bomb and then hang up," he yelled in the mattress but it muffled into a regular inside voice.

"Don't. We don't want her eating the cafe," Tadashi said, putting his hand on Hiro's back. If he remembered correctly, there were some who could keep away from the battlefield, but they had to be exceptional. Maybe Hiro's mind may save him? "There... might be some hope." They can't possibly waste a young genius on the front.

"What's that hope?" Hiro asked, his voice still muffled from him pressing his face against the bed. "And she's going to eat the entire cafe even if I don't tell her through the phone so what's the difference?"

"Countries hate wasting _rare and valuable_ resources. Your brain here is pretty rare," Tadashi pointed out, tapping his brother's head. "It would be a shame not to use it. They might put you to work in a safe environment, developing better weapons. Maybe even robots. You may not need to fight at all." The military checked backgrounds, right? Then they would know that Hiro was already a high school graduate. As long as they knew that, then he wouldn't be in as much danger at all.

Hiro lifted his head, not looking hopeful at all. "I don't make weapons, Tadashi. And the robots I create are small compared to yours. So how is that useful? First chance they get they would squash my creations like a bug, no doubt about it." He sighed and rested his chin on the mattress instead so he had a better chance of breathing.

"You aren't going to be the only one working. There'll probably be other researchers doing more of the weapon work. You can just assist them." It was certainly better than fighting on the battlefield. There would be less trauma and chance of death, though maybe it wasn't so good for those who would know their weapons would kill more people. "Or maybe you can stick to the defensive research. Build some armor, probably."

"Do they even have the right machines to design and build the armor?" he asked. "And do people even ever wear it these days?" Hiro couldn't stand aiding an army for murder. He didn't want to help, but if what Tadashi said was true, he'd have to cooperate for Aunt Cass' sanity level. "Never mind. Fine, I'll see."

"Let's just hope I'm right and they really do want you as a researcher rather than a soldier." Perhaps they should feel a little bit fortunate. At least Hiro had a way out now. As for the others...


	3. Chapter 3

**I lost the AN for this one... *sigh***

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><p>About a day later, Hiro was still lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what to do. He hadn't thought of some way to tell Aunt Cass about being drafted, he knew she was scared of it, too. He heard her mumble about it countless times as she cooked or served someone and he did have to go through a talk about it at some point, which only made him feel even more guilty for hiding it from her.<p>

"I only have a few days. Think, brain, think!" Why couldn't he have just been having a problem with a robot? It would have been much easier to deal with!

"This stinks..." He couldn't think of any way to tell Aunt Cass about him being drafted. He knew every possibility would end with her freaking out and eating the entire cafe. And somehow she was still skinny.

Aunt Cass entered the room with a tray of food for breakfast. "You haven't come down for breakfast in a while, so if you aren't feeling well you can eat up in the room," she said. "Are you doing alright?" Cass asked. She had taken into consideration that Hiro was under a lot of stress so she tried the gentle approach and just left him to think for a while. Usually that would be all he really needed- time to think.

It could be robot problems for all she knew, bullying at school, huge exam that he freaks out over even if he's going to pass with flying colors (it happened every time), hell it could even be about Tadashi coming back home alright. She knew Hiro fussed over Tadashi even when he slit his finger just a little.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried about Tadashi, is all," Hiro replied. At least he had no letter to worry about. "Aunt Cass, when do you think he'll get out?" The young Hamada sat up now, trying to play the anticipating little brother who just wanted his big brother home. In a way, he did want Tadashi to come home as soon as possible, if only to make sure Aunt Cass wasn't alone.

Aunt Cass only shrugged. "They said he'd be home sometime next week," she replied. "He'll be home soon as long as they're sure that he isn't going to be in much pain by that time. Is there something important next week?" Aunt Cass wanted Hiro to tell her what was wrong, she was beginning to get worried that it was something really serious but she wouldn't jump to conclusions until Hiro was ready to tell her.

Hiro reached out to her for a hug, which she gladly gave him. "I just want him to come home, you know?" he said in probably a sadder tone than he intended.

"I just... feel like I won't be able to spend much more time with him." That was just about half the truth right there. He was close to his deadline, almost on borrowed time.

Cass wasn't sure if that was a clue or just her nephew's fear. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. The doctors said he'll make a full recovery," she assured him as cheerfully as she could. "He'll be fine, I promise you. Everything is okay." Hiro knew that he was going to feel an enormous amount of guilt for lying about this.

Hiro knew he only had two-three days left to tell Aunt Cass about the drafting letter. He wanted this weight lifted off of his chest but he had no idea how to tell her. He was so close to blurting it out but he bit his lip and swallowed it back.

"Alright..." If Tadashi found out he hadn't told Aunt Cass yet, he'd drop the truth bomb on her. That was something Hiro wasn't looking forward to. Eager to change the topic, he looked over to the tray of food and smiled slightly. It was a horrible forced smile but it would do. "Thanks for the food," he said. Hiro was seriously going to miss Aunt Cass' cooking if he ever joined the army.

Cass kissed his forehead, deciding again to not press for information. She just hoped he would tell her what was on his mind before something serious happened, if it were to happen. "Let me know when you need anything," she said before walking downstairs.

Hiro sighed and fell back on the bed. Yeah, he was gonna eat. Just not now. He wanted to call Tadashi and ask him for advice. He didn't want to leave bed this morning despite it being Saturday and he always had something to do on Saturdays.

"Aunt Cass, I'm being drafted," he mumbled under his breath before closing his eyes and unintentionally falling asleep, leaving the food untouched next to his bed.

As Cass made it to the cafe, she suddenly saw some officers gesturing to her from a table. "Can I help you?" she asked as she walked over to them, ready to take their orders. They didn't look like they were going to order anything, though. They looked as if they were on business.

"Yes, Ma'am, is a Hiro Hamada here?" one of the men asked as he pulled up a notice. "We need to see him immediately." Aunt Cass began to panic, had Hiro been bot fighting again? Was he caught? Were they going to arrest him?

"L-look, if it's about the bot fighting, I promise I'll pay back everything, I'll throw away his bots but please, please, don't arrest him!" The officers looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"No Ma'am, it's not about the bot fighting." Aunt Cass breathed a sigh of relief for a second but then she began to grow suspicious. What did they want then? "Is Hiro Hamada here?" They asked again.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I'll just bring him down." Aunt Cass went up to Hiro's room and saw him sleeping on his bed, for the first time in so long he actually looked peaceful. She walked over to him and shook him awake, feeling guilty about it. The poor boy hadn't slept right in so long... "Hiro, baby, it's time to wake up. Two men are looking for you."

Hiro, who was half-asleep when he'd been waken, widened his eyes and he swallowed. "T-they're officers...?"

"Yeah, honey, they want to talk to you."

"Hiro Hamada," one of them said from the doorway. "Come with us. It's time." Aunt Cass looked down at her youngest nephew and he held onto her tightly, as if she were going to save his life. In this case she may as well have.  
>Now or never.<p>

"Cass I'm being drafted," he whispered, afraid of the officers now. Aunt Cass' look turned into one of horror and then she looked back at the impatient officers who were already walking toward them.


	4. Chapter 4

**RFC: ****Ayo, Craze.**

**CA: Yo Forest!**

**Run Forest run!**

**RFC: ... Demmit, Craze.**

**CA: Lolz.**

**Looks like we got lota of reviews. And an announcement from yours truly that I regret leaving there.**

**RFC: Tchhhh why?**

**CA: Why indeed**

**RFC: So how should we torture the fans this time?**

**CA: Are you thinking what I'm thinking, sibling?**

**RFC: I do not possess the ability to read minds. So nope.**

**CA: Cliffhanger...**

**Hanging from a cliff!**

**RFC: Oooohhh. That's a great idea!**

**Shall we laugh evilly?**

**RFC: Laugh evilly we shall.**

**CA: We'll be laughing evilly while you all read the story. Have fun...**

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><p>Hiro buried his face in Aunt Cass' shoulder and whimpered. It was too early, he was supposed to stay home until next week when Tadashi came home! He wasn't supposed to report for duty the next day!<p>

"Auntie Cass," he whispered, fear evident in his voice. "Don't let them take me away, please."

With a now determined expression, Cass moved Hiro behind her. "You're not taking my nephew," she declared with a voice akin to a growl. She glanced back at Hiro for a moment and suggested with her eyes that he activate Baymax, at least for a distraction.

Hiro looked up at her, nodding for a second. He looked over to where Baymax's luggage was. In desperate attempt he yelled, "OW!" The sound of something inflating filled the room and soon Baymax was hobbling over to where Hiro was.

"Hello, I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion. What seems to be the trouble, Hiro?" Unaware of the policemen that were now staring at the robot with confused looks, he continued. "I will scan you for injuries."

"Baymax-"

"Scan complete. You have sustained no injuries, but scans shows that you are stressed. Would you like to contact your brother for comfort?" While the men were distracted, Hiro grabbed Baymax's hand and began to run.

"Let's get out of here!" he practically shouted as the two of them ran downstairs while Aunt Cass held the men off to give them time. The men were not happy with that, in fact they were pretty damn pissed off. Once they got past Aunt Cass, they started chasing after the two. All the while shouting at Hiro to stop resisting, which only scared him even more.

Hiro made it to the garage and locked the door to buy some more time while he got Baymax's rockets on. The robot, in the meantime, was already fastening some holds that would allow Hiro to stay on his back.

"It would seem you are afraid of those men," Baymax stated as if searching for confirmation. "Are they a threat to your health?"

Hiro may as well have nodded his head, they were going to ship him off to war. He had to get to the hospital, he had to get away from the men. Oh man, they weren't going to let him off easy. What would Tadashi say?

Instead of answering Baymax's question, Hiro had already mounted the robot and his breathing was no where near normal. "We gotta go, Baymax!" He nearly yelled, desperate to get away. "Thrust!"

For some reason or whatever, Baymax did thrust, but not necessarily in any way useful. "This would be better if we had music."

"What are you doing?!"

"I am thrusting. Thrusting was a popular form of dance in the early 21st century."

"Not the _pelvic_ thrust! I meant fly!"

"Oh, I see." The rockets flared and they burst through the opening garage door. The men burst through the door too late, Hiro was already gone. They wouldn't give up, though. The boy needed to come home sooner or later. They would come back tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Baymax flew aimlessly in the air, having not been given a destination. "Those men seem to be after you. Shall we go to the police?" he asked, though not changing any directions until confirmation. "What is their directive?"<p>

"They _are_ the police, Baymax," Hiro said solemnly. "They want me to go to war for them. We should go to the San Fransokyo hospital. We gotta visit Tadashi." Hiro didn't want to say any more. Baymax wouldn't understand the situation but Tadashi would. If he was going to be taken away, he'd prefer to spend the rest of his time of freedom with his older brother.

Baymax glanced at Hiro for a moment, resting on top of the San Fransokyo bridge. "You seem to want to avoid them. Would it not be obvious that you would want to visit your brother?" The robot did not favor the idea of sending Hiro to war. Boys his age usually didn't survive the first few days of battle.

"I have no idea," Hiro muttered. "I'm not going to be able to hide forever, if they want to drag my ass back to their battlefield they would have to take me out of the hospital first." Hiro wrapped his arms around Baymax's neck. "Come on, buddy, let's go."

Baymax set course for the hospital and turned right. "Tadashi will not be pleased," he stated with a hint of what he thought may be dread. As soon as they set foot on the hospital grounds, Baymax faced Hiro once he dismounted. "Shall I hide so as to not give away your location?"

"Go on ahead. Meet me here when we're done. I need to find a good place to hide," Hiro said and ran inside the building. Once he reached the desk he quickly said, "Here to see Tadashi Hamada!" And without another word he ran toward Tadashi's room. Hiro was out of breath by the time he reached the hospital bed and he took deep breaths before slamming his face onto the bed and screaming.

Tadashi was startled when Hiro suddenly burst through the door, buried his face into the bed blankets, and began to scream as if frustrated. "Hiro? What's wrong?!" he questioned, grabbing the younger Hamada's shoulders and attempting to make him look up.

Big mistake.

Hiro wasn't done screaming, so his voice reverberated throughout the hospital room and Tadashi had to cover his ears while his brother slammed his face back down.

Once Hiro was done screaming, he looked up at Tadashi, his expression a mixture of fear and anger. Rested his chin against the bed and growled. Tadashi, at the moment, was very confused. Had it gone wrong with Aunt Cass? Did she start stress eating?

"It didn't go well with Cass, did it?" Tadashi asked.

Hiro just shook his head. "Worse. They're after me!" He was terrified. Sure, the other day he and Tadashi were talking about the possibility that Hiro wouldn't have to be made a soldier, but war was pretty unpredictable. "They just came to the cafe, they're probably looking for me right now. I can't go yet, Nii-chan! I can't!"

Tadashi stared down at Hiro in shock. They were after him? But it had only been a day, why were they after him already? "Didn't they say that you had to report sometime next week?" Tadashi asked. "Why are they coming so soon?" Did he get his letter last week or something? Or... did something happen on the battlefield?

Hiro just continued to shake his head, unsure of what to say. "I don't know!" He looked into his brother's eyes as if searching for some answer, any answer. "What should I do? I can't go home, but I can't run forever."

Tadashi sighed and looked down at the sheets. He wasn't sure what Hiro should do. There _was_ the bribing option. Hiro seemed so accepting to being drafted yesterday but actually facing the situation, it was obvious he was really scared.

"We're not letting them take you away, alright? What we can do is bribe them, I'l be home next week and I'll help out at the cafe. Until then, you gotta help Aunt Cass raise the money for the funds. Alright?"

And they brought up the bribe option again. "Tadashi, I already told you I'm not worth it!" Hiro checked the door, listening for any rushing footsteps. "They should get tired of looking for me eventually, right? I can't hide forever, but maybe long enough for them to stop looking, right?" He was practically pleading for assurance that he could escape this draft, even if it was a lie.

"Hiro at a time like this I'm not going to take 'No' for an answer," Tadashi said and picked up the phone to call Aunt Cass, ignoring Hiro's protests. He dialed the number and waited for her to answer.

"Aunt Cass?" There was a distinct noise that indicated someone freaking out. Oh man, she was so stress eating... "Yeah, he's with me. Wait what? He doesn't like that idea." Hiro growled in frustration, knowing that Tadashi wouldn't listen to him no matter what he said."To hell with what he wants, I'm not letting him go. Can you go upstairs to our room? My wallet is on my desk, it should have a hundred dollars or so."

Aunt Cass's voice was clearer now. "What's all this for?" She'd asked.

"College funds." Hiro could hear Cass yelling at Tadashi through the phone, fussing about how the money was important. Tadashi only waved it off. "It's alright, I can explain the situation to Callaghan, he'll figure something out." What if they don't accept it? "They should accept it. It's all I got so far." There was a silence, telling Hiro that Aunt Cass had lowered her voice since she wasn't supposed to be yelling in this conversation. "Alright, thanks, Cass. I'll have Baymax take him home. Bye." He hung up the phone and then looked at Hiro, who was currently glaring at him.

"You bribed the cops with your _college funds_," he growled. "The money you need to attend SFIT. And you gave it up."

Tadashi glared back. Hiro just didn't get it! "If it ensures you stay safe at home, then there's no problem with _giving it up_!" He then smiled a little bit. "You forget that I still have some scholarships to SFIT. It's really not a problem."

"Don't you think those scholarships will die in total war?"

"Not all of them." Tadashi had to admit that Hiro had a point, but he would deal with the problem as it comes. "Look, don't worry about me. You're the one going to war, so worry about yourself. Money can be replaced simply enough, it's just paper. You, on the other hand..." He trailed off so that his brother could think about it.

"I told you I wasn't worth the money," Hiro muttered angrily. "I would have found something out in the end." That was a total lie, he would have been too late. "We don't know where they're going to put me, Tadashi, for all we know I probably might be pushed back into the defense lab like you said!"

"But as you just pointed out, we don't know where they're going to put you. They could put you in the defense lab, they could put you out on the front lines. I don't think Aunt Cass would stand to take that chance."

This conversation was going nowhere. "Tadashi..." That came out pathetically, but he was once again at a loss. "When will this war end?"

Tadashi looked at Hiro, surprised at his sudden change of tone but he shrugged. "I don't know. It can last ten years or more but we won't let them take you away, alright?"

Hiro became more and more unsure, so much so that his attitude from before was slowly becoming nonexistent. "Promise?" The reality of the situation was sinking in more and more as each second passed.

"I'd rather die than let you go to war," Tadashi said, pulling Hiro into a hug. "We'll bribe the cops for as long as we can and you'll be at home safe with me and Aunt Cass." Having to see Hiro like this was painful. He wasn't a vulnerable kid, he was supposed to be sarcastic and overjoyed at horrible times. That's how Hiro was like.

"So calm down and take a deep breath. You're not going anywhere other than your room once you get back to the cafe."

Hiro wanted to smile, he really did, but he still wasn't sure about the bribe. Nonetheless, he knew it was useless to resist anyway. "Yeah, okay," was all he could say as he hugged his brother back. "Nothing will... happen, right?"

"I'll be there to make sure of that," Tadashi said determined. "Just wait until Monday next week, I'll be out d here and you won't have to worry about an asshole cop going after you." Tadashi sighed and closed his eyes, feeling at ease that his brother was here with him for now. "I'm here to protect you."

Hiro started to relax more and more. "Okay. I believe you, Nii-chan," he said. "Ah, I forgot. Are you feeling any better? The burns don't hurt anymore?"

Tadashi shrugged and he fell back into the bed, letting go of Hiro as he did so. "No. They don't hurt as much. I mean it's a small stinging pain here and there but that's about it." Tadashi looked at Hiro again. "Why?"

"I guess I just wanted to know," Hiro answered with a shrug of his own. "I guess I just wanted to make sure you'll really come back next week." He forced a laugh. "I don't know what to tell Aunt Cass when I get home. Or will I be able to recognize her? The stuff in the cafe can't be good for someone's size."

Tadashi waved off the last comment with a laugh. "Aunt Cass is magical, she can't get fat. What she can do is rip the whole cafe apart so you better get home. I told her that I'd send you back ten minutes ago. Come and visit tomorrow, okay?"

"I don't want to leave," Hiro whined as he buried his face into the bed. For some reason, he felt as if there was some hidden meaning behind that. "Let me stay the night. Just tell Aunt Cass I'll be back tomorrow."

Tadashi sighed and shook his head against the pillow. "Alright. And how did you get here again?" He asked. "Did you take Baymax? How is the poor robot going to charge?"

Hiro hadn't thought of that. Baymax had yet to be able to last a day out. "Right... I forgot about that," he muttered. "He needs a better battery. Maybe we can make one for him when you get out?"

Tadashi nodded and closed his eyes, beginning to think. "Yeah, we could do that." Tadashi shifted in the bed until he was comfortable. "I have no idea about you, but I'm pretty damn sleepy."

"Sleepy? It's only the afternoon!" Hiro said with a small laugh. He supposed it couldn't hurt to stay for just a little while longer. "Whatever. Just rest up so you can come home even earlier."

"Okay good night. See you in the evening." Tadashi turned. A little and finally drifted off to a peaceful sleep. Hiro smiled at the sight, it had been a while since Tadashi looked this peaceful. It was nice. After a while, Hiro also drifted off, though only when he was sure the officers from before won't look for him. Fortunately, his brother was a light sleeper and would have warned him if someone was coming.

* * *

><p>Tadashi woke up sometime around 7 PM, the sun had set and Hiro was still asleep. He sighed and looked at the doorway as if it would give him the answers to the meaning of life.<p>

Having noticed a drain in battery, perhaps due to waiting, Baymax decided it was time to consult with Hiro on what to do. Entering the hospital, he went to the front desk for a visitor sticker. "I am here to see Tadashi Hamada," he said, getting the sticker and heading to the room. There, he saw Tadashi awake and Hiro asleep. "Hello, Tadashi. Would you like for me to scan you?"

Tadashi shook his head. "I'm fine, Baymax," he replied with a small smile. It was nice to see nursing robot right now. How are you?" He looked down at Hiro and ruffled his hair to wake him. "How are you going to get Baymax home when his battery dies?"

Baymax looked at Hiro and then back at Tadashi. "I am fully functional. The rockets do not drain my battery, and I have some left. We may be able to make it safely home," he answered for the boy. "Is it wise to bring him home? He is trying to avoid the police."

Tadashi shrugged and left Hiro alone seeing as to how pointless it would be. Hiro wouldn't ever listen to him if he tried to wake him up. So instead, Tadashi seemed to scan Baymax in a different way before he spoke.

"How low is your battery, Baymax?" He asked. "Because you won't be able to fly properly if it's too low. You act like a man that just came out of a bar with ten bottles of beer when you're low on battery."

"I cannot get drunk; I am a robot," Baymax stated, though perhaps Tadashi had a point. Everyone else seemed to agree with him, though the robot could not recall what happened in low battery state. "My battery is currently at twenty percent. I should be able to make it home." He waited for any further commands.

Tadashi nodded and looked down at Hiro. "I think we should let him stay here for the night," he said. Looking back at Baymax, he wished he could deactivate Baymax properly, where the robot could charge and all but there was no place for his battery here. Where would Baymax go when he was deactivated far from his luggage? Tadashi hadn't thought about that, really.

Baymax looked back at Hiro for a moment. "Will staying here the night improve his emotional state?" The answer was obvious, but it was protocol to ask.

Tadashi shrugged. "Most likely. He doesn't want to go home right now. On another topic, where do you go if we deactivate you far from your charging station?" He asked. "I haven't thought about it, so if you know, mind telling me?"

"I deactivate, just as you intended," Baymax answered with an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. "I cannot deactivate unless Hiro says he is satisfied with his care. It is quite a dilemma if he does not wish to go home."

Tadashi looked down at Hiro and poked his cheek. When he didn't wake up, he just sighed and looked back at Baymax. "You can fly back home then, tell Aunt Cass to pick him up tomorrow morning. Just go ahead and charge up since we can't deactivate you."

Baymax nodded and turned to walk outside. "Very well. Good night, Tadashi," he said before he left. Some time later, the sound of rockets could be heard, indicating the robot was on his way home.

Tadashi sighed and sat up. He threw off his covers and pulled them over Hiro. His brother was beginning to shiver and the blanket was too warm for his liking anyways. "Sleep tight baby brother," he said before going back to sleep.

Unconsciously, Hiro smiled and snuggled into the sudden warmth that had washed over him. All was well for now.

* * *

><p><strong>RFC: You know what...?<strong>

**CA: Eh?**

**RFC: Let's torture them in the next chapter.**

**CA: How? Have the cops take Hiro away?**

**RFC: Well we can't let them know, now, can we?**

**Anyways, I have no idea what Full Metal Jacket is but we aren't going to do the whole "Oh hey you're in the army, deal with it" kind of thing.**


	5. Chapter 5

**:D I love you guys.**

**Co-author credit goes to... /drumroll**

**Crazy Adamantine. WHOOO! /applause**

**CA: Run Forest run!**

**RFC: Seriously?**

**CA: Yes, seriously. This is our longest chapter yet.**

**RFC: Yeah. RPing all day. WHOO!**

**CA: So much fun. I made my sibling feels today.**

**RFC: Yeah, no kidding!**

**CA: Maybe we make your readers feels too?**

**RFC: Probably.**

**CA: Maybe. We have surprise! Cliffhanger! Hanging from a cliff!**

**RFC: /sigh Yes, we have a cliffhanger. X3**

**CA: You never watched the show?**

**RFC: What show?**

**CA: Whoever guesses the show I'm referencing shall get the extra piece me and my sibling wrote but decided to leave out!**

**RFC: What? Hey, don't leave me in the dark! I thought I was your little sibling!**

**CA: You _are_ my little sibling. I am stimulating your research skills by telling you to research for yourself.**

**RFC: ... Fine.**

* * *

><p>It was a bit late at night when Hiro finally stirred from his sleep. "Tadashi...? What time is it?" he asked groggily. He managed to glance out the window for a bit and saw that it was night. "Eh?! Is it that late already?!"<p>

Tadashi groaned, annoyed of the sudden noise. He began to move a little before he finally woke up, seeing as to how he wasn't going to be able to drift away any time soon. He looked at the clock nearby and it showed the time was 3:33 AM. God, why was Hiro awake at such an _ungodly_ hour?! "Hiro, dude, what the hell," he muttered. "There is a certain _Nii-chan_ trying to sleep."

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" It was a little too late to try to get home, though. It was indeed an ungodly hour. "Aunt Cass is gonna kill me! And Baymax is probably a passed out robot outside!"

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Baymax went home and Aunt Cass already knows you're staying the night," he said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Besides, you wouldn't wake up when I tried. Be glad you're able to stay the night instead of having to deal with a lecture about important secrets."

Hiro gave his brother a blank look as the thought processed in his mind. Then he realized he left Aunt Cass at a cliffhanger when his last words to her were: "I'm being drafted." That surely wan't the best line to leave her at. "Oh yeah, was she stress eating?" Hiro asked. "Because you can't just tell her that you're being drafted without her being a Snorlax and eating the entire cafe."

Tadashi only shrugged at that. "Yes, she was stress eating. Probably more so than ever before," he answered. "You're gonna have to make this up to her somehow. She might not be so stressed if you told her the first time." Or maybe this would have happened anyway. Tadashi couldn't always know what their aunt was thinking.

Hiro only sighed once more. Leave it to Tadashi to guilt trip him... "Yeah yeah, I get it..." he muttered. "Aunt Cass doesn't take secrets as well as you..." Hiro looked at Tadashi only to be met with a smug smile, returning it with a mock glare. "Oh, shut up."

"What? I didn't say anything," Tadashi said with as innocent a smile as he could muster. His eyes softened a bit. "Really, though, did you have to wake up at this time?" Not that anyone, especially Hiro, could help that. The kid's sleep patterns were especially unstable in times of distress.

Hiro looked up at the clock again and rolled onto the hospital bed with the blanket, snuggling up against his older brother. "Sure. Go back to sleep then, I'll knock out, soon." He looked like a giant burrito like that, not that Tadashi was complaining. He was going to take a picture of that and send it to Honey Lemon, one of his friends later on. Tadashi decided to comply, at least partially. After he closed his eyes, he moved his hand sneakily to get his phone, and turn on the camera. Opening the eye closest to the phone, he quickly took a picture of himself and the burrito that he called his brother.

He didn't silence his phone apparently...

The sound of the camera clicking was loud in the room and Hiro instantly shot up, which would have made him look like he just woke up from a nightmare, but instead he looked like a giant bent burrito, glaring at Tadashi.

The man quickly set down his phone, but it was too late. Hiro already saw. "What did you just do?" he demanded, trying to reach for the device that, unfortunately, his arm was not long enough to get. "Did you just take a picture? Get rid of it now!" He didn't dare climb over his brother, afraid that it might cause him pain.

"No way!" Tadashi chuckled. "The opportunity was just too good to pass up!" Hiro made stupid noises that sounded like "Mehp" while he tried to reach for Tadashi's phone. Why was the table so far away from arm's reach?! While the young Hamada's arm was out, Tadashi started tickling him. "No touchy touchy," Tadashi said immaturely. "My phone. Mine."

"T-Tadashi!" Hiro laughed. "Stop!"

Hiro was perhaps too loud, for a nurse knocked on their door and peeked a head through. "Could you keep it down? A patient or two complained." It was clear she was a bit annoyed, likely due to how early in the morning it was.

Tadashi tried to keep a straight face while nodding but he couldn't help the grin that was splitting on his face. "Sorry." When she left, he smiled apologetically at Hiro. "Whoops?"

Hiro was currently trying to regain oxygen, managing to at least glare at his brother. "The... phone... Get... rid of... that... picture," he demanded in-between breaths. He became even more annoyed when all Tadashi did was smile at him and shook his head. "C'mon!"

"Nope," Tadashi said and locked his phone, knowing full well that Hiro had no idea what his password was and flopped back down on the bed. "Deal with it." With that he shut his eyes and pretended to sleep while listening to Hiro's muttering curses. He was too lazy to tell him to watch his language so he let it slide. For now.

Defeated, Hiro sighed and sank into the bed, moving and facing away from his brother in order to appear mad at him. "Idiot Tadashi," he muttered as he buried himself in the cocoon of blanket.

Tadashi put an arm over Hiro and moved closer to him despite the boy's protests. "Oh quiet, you. You know you love this," he said in a teasing manner, smirking as his brother made a confirming noise and turned to face him.

"Someone's gonna get the wrong idea, you know," Hiro warned, though he actually didn't mind. Screw what the rest of the world thinks.

Tadashi only waved it off with a lazy grunt. He didn't care what the world thought, if they were into that kind of stuff then they were into that kind of stuff. It wouldn't affect him in any way. The blanket was warm, almost as if Hiro were a living heater. And a pillow. So Tadashi rested his head on his current burrito brother and sighed.

"Dude, the blanket makes you comfortable..." Hiro made a slightly irritated noise before closing his eyes. After a while, he fell back asleep, lulled by Tadashi's heartbeat.

* * *

><p>Tadashi was woken up by the sound of a balloon walking into the room. It looks like Baymax has returned.<p>

"Hello, Tadashi." Yep, that was Baymax. "Have you and Hiro had a good night sleep? Having enough rest is essential for maintaining good health."

Tadashi had caught himself shrugging a lot these days. Suppose he hasn't had a real reply to think up of yet, seeing as to how he had just woken up, after all. "I guess so, I'm still a bit tired, though," he replied, making an attempt to sit up. Every attempt failed, however, since he had that irritable morning feeling where you sit up only to fall on your back again, because you crave more sleep.

"You are still tired," Baymax stated and took the liberty to scan. "You appear to have almost recovered and your fatigue is not due to your condition. Are you sure you slept without interruption?"

The man yawned, neither nodding nor shaking his head. "I'll be completely candid, not at all," he answered, his voice sounding as though he were stretching his entire body and waiting for a popping sound. "Hiro woke up at three in the morning and I'm pretty damn tired."

"That is understandable. 'Early to bed, early to rise,' as the saying goes," Baymax said and he took a seat, saying nothing more.

Tadashi smiled at that and sighed. "Baymax, how's Aunt Cass?" he asked. Baymax had been at home with her, so he should probably know how's she's doing right now. At the very least, he might make sure she's not stress eating anymore. Had she tried to contact them while they were asleep? Did she gain weight? Okay, she probably didn't gain weight but still. "Is she doing alright?"

The robot blinked, as if trying to remember. "Your aunt was in a rush to restock food supplies," he stated. "She seems more stressed than usual and would sample some of what she cooked. I sense she is still shaken." The detail was probably unnecessary, but it mattered little to him.

Tadashi nodded and let that sink in before he checked the time. It was 12:34 PM now, he and Hiro ended up oversleeping. He decided he'd finally wake up his little brother now. "Hey, Hiro, wake up, man." When Hiro didn't wake up, Tadashi sighed and said as loud as he could without disturbing the other patients, "Aunt Cass is freaking out right now and she almost ate the entire cafe last night."

"Correction," Baymax began, "she _did_ eat the entire cafe last night. Did I use the expression properly?" He tilted his head as he waited for confirmation.

Hiro groaned and lifted the blanket over himself. "Nnnnooooo..." he whined. "I want to sleep iiinnnn..."

Tadashi nodded at Baymax, "Yeah, you used it correctly." Then he turned to Hiro and huffed. "I'm going to get out of this hospital bed and get there myself if you don't get up right now," he warned. When Hiro didn't budge, he sighed and rolled off the bed. His body felt weak and tired but someone had to get home and help Aunt Cass. "Getting off the bed," he muttered. As he stood, his knees felt shaky but that was about it. It felt good to stand up for once in so many weeks but it was also tiring. Tadashi should have known he wasn't supposed to stand yet.

Noticing the lack of warmth on the bed, Hiro knew Tadashi had actually meant it when he said he'd get out of bed. Soon he was wide awake and his head shot up. Before Tadashi could even _blink_, Hiro was right in front of him and pushing him back onto the hospital bed, muttering, "Hell, no." Knowing his brother had already won, the boy sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll go back to make sure Aunt Cass hasn't given herself diabetes yet—which I'm pretty sure she already has—but I'm coming back in a couple of hours. Don't move, or I swear to God I'll punch you when you get out of here."

Tadashi, satisfied, returned to the bed. "Alright, I'll be waiting right here," he said quite triumphantly. Works every time, he thought to himself as he settled onto the bed and prepared to rest once more. A few more hours shouldn't hurt.

Baymax was ready to walk out. "Would you like to travel by rocket or on foot?" he asked.

Hiro smiled and was so ready to run out so he could be airborne again. "Let us fly, my big marshmallow friend!" With that he ran out and Tadashi could have sworn that if robots could smile, Baymax was doing it. The nursing robot looked back at Tadashi and waved before following Hiro out—slowly, might I add—and it took about a minute for Tadashi to actually lost sight of the robot.

After what Hiro had said sank in, Tadashi was very confused. "'Big marshmallow friend'?"

Once outside, Baymax waited for Hiro to climb onto him before preparing to lift off. "Next destination: Lucky Cat Cafe," he said before taking off.

* * *

><p>Aunt Cass was pacing back and forth, not even wanting to <em>stress eat<em> while she was _stressed_. That was a pretty big thing. She was just muttering about how one day Hiro would be the death of her and how she was so ready to give him a huge lecture about how he shouldn't keep secrets like this from her, but then she started thinking about how it was affecting him and how scared he was.

"B-but he should have known that I would have been there for him," she said to no one. "I would have done something about it earlier..."

The door opened with Baymax and Hiro entering the cafe. While the young Hamada approached his aunt, with a bit of dread, Baymax walked away to play with Mochi, who came up to greet them. Once Aunt Cass saw Hiro, she rushed up to him and pulled him into a hug without hesitation. She didn't pull at his ear this time, she only held him like her life had depended on it. She didn't want to let him go, afraid that the policemen would come back and take him away from her within a blink of an eye.

"Hiro, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" she asked, keeping her voice steady so as to assure her nephew. "I could have helped..." In the background, they could easily hear Baymax saying, "Hairy baby" as he played with Mochi, petting the cat.

Hiro looked ashamed, not that Aunt Cass could really see it, and he hugged her back. "You would have started freaking out like you did yesterday..." Hiro muttered. "And I didn't want to upset you, you were in such a good mood..."

Cass softened just a little more and pulled away to look Hiro in the eyes. "Oh, you're just too considerate," she cooed before hugging him again. "Does your brother know? You at least told him, right?"

Hiro nodded and blinked back the tears. Aunt Cass wasn't mad, that was a relief but now she knew and she was going to stress out about working harder, wasn't she? He remembered the talks, he remembered her saying that she'd do anything to keep him at home, away from the war, now she was going to be exhausted every single day and that would have been his fault. "He knew a day before you did..." he admitted, his voice cracked a little as he spoke. "I'm sorry, Aunt Cass."

She patted his back. "Why? You didn't ask to go to war," she reasoned. "Would you like some hot wings? Or some tarts? You look like you need a treat after all this."

The hot wings were very tempting, and Hiro didn't recall having eaten anything since yesterday, or maybe even the day before. "Yeah, I could go for some wings," he answered and then it was his turn to pull away from the hug. "First, though, you need help around the cafe, right?"

Aunt Cass looked rather surprised. Why would Hiro want to help out? She didn't know what he wanted to accomplish from it—if that was what he was aiming for, so she shook her head. "No, honey, I don't need help. Why?"

"Are you sure? It gets busy around here sometimes and you need to pay bills, right? I don't mind helping, really," Hiro insisted, not bringing up the bribe option. He didn't want Aunt Cass to feel as if he was compelled to help her. Well, in a way, he did feel compelled, but for good reason!

She shook her head once more. "I'm going to be alright. I can pay off everything on my own." Hiro looked reluctant to let it go and it took a while for Aunt Cass but she got it after studying the look on his face: guilt. "You're guilty about something," she stated like Baymax would. "What's wrong?"

Well, he got one lecture about hiding secrets. He didn't want another one. "Tadashi talked to you about bribing for me, right? That means you'll have to work harder to make ends meet..." Hiro heard the balloony footsteps of Baymax approaching and then the subsequent scanning.

Aunt Cass sighed and patted Hiro's shoulder reassuringly. "You can do what you want, I won't make you help out. If you feel it's right, then you can." Then she mocked a serious look. "But only for two hours and then you take a break, got it?"

Hiro had to smile a bit. "You got it, Aunt Cass," he said, just when he heard the door open. Looks like it was time to get to work. Quickly, he headed to the kitchen with Baymax following behind him, holding Mochi and petting the fat—sorry—_fluffy_ cat.

"Would you like some help?" asked the nursing bot.

Aunt Cass wanted to coo at the robot. Even if he was taller than her, he was just the cutest thing in the world. She wanted to hug him and "suffocate" him until his batteries died. She followed them to the kitchen as well to grab her apron and notepad to take orders. Aunt Cass was sure she would have died of "cuteness overload" when she saw Baymax exit the kitchen with a large apron around him.

"Hello, I am Baymax, your waiter," the robot said to one of the customers. "I will be serving you what you would like to eat. Are you ready to order?"

* * *

><p>As the sun began to set, Hiro had finished clearing the tables while Baymax tried to clean the dishes. Keyword: tried. His big hands couldn't hold the sponge long enough to wash. "I'll take over from here, buddy," the young Hamada said as he began to clean a plate.<p>

"Would you like to see Tadashi?" Baymax asked as he stepped aside. "It has been more than a few hours since you promised to revisit." He turned his head toward the door. "Oh no."

Aunt Cass was sweeping the cafe when she heard the door open. Without looking up, she announced that they were closed. When there was no answer, Cass looked up and saw two officers standing there. She froze up for a second. They were back and it had only been a day. "Hiro!" she yelled to warn her nephew.

Baymax put a hand on Hiro's shoulder. "I suggest we run," he said and then turned toward Aunt Cass. "Do tell us if bribing worked." With that, they ran toward the garage to get the rockets once more. "Shall we see Tadashi?"

Hiro nodded quickly and pulled Baymax back to the garage. He was panicked once again and the hospital was his only safe place. Once they had the rockets on, Hiro jumped on Baymax and urged him to hurry up and _leave_.

"Baymax, we gotta go! Full thrust!"

As soon as the garage opened, Baymax flew out again and made way to the hospital. "This cannot go on forever. We must think of another plan," the nursing bot noted. "Hiro, what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know. Let's talk to Tadashi about the backup, okay?" Hiro answered, looking back briefly at the cafe.

When Hiro made it back to the hospital, he jumped through Tadashi's open window and helped Baymax through. Once that was done and over with, he quickly shut it, locked it, and closed the curtains.

All the while, Tadashi had been staring at him, confused as to what was going on. Did he get himself into trouble again? "Alright, Sippy, how hot was the cup?" Tadashi asked. Hiro stopped moving around and looked at Tadashi. He didn't have time to show his confusion, he was too busy looking as though someone just brutally murdered his pet goldfish: horrified.

Baymax took the liberty to answer for him. "I am not aware of a Sippy. Who is he or she?" he asked, patting Hiro on the back to calm him down. "And did someone burn their tongue on a hot cup? Shall I do a scan?"

Tadashi chuckled at how literal Baymax took that and replied, "It's just something I like to say, there's no Sippy and no one burned their tongue on a hot cup." Then looked over to where Hiro was. It took a moment but he finally realized how scared his brother looked. "Hiro, come here." Sometimes it was annoying being stuck in a hospital bed.

Hiro hurried toward Tadashi and jumped onto the bed with him. "They came back. What if they don't take the bribe?" Or worse, what if they arrested Aunt Cass for helping him escape? It was a wonder why they didn't do that the first time.

Tadashi hugged his baby brother, trying to calm him down. Inside, he was freaking out just as much as Hiro was, but he couldn't actually show it. If he did, it would only make the boy panic more. So instead, Tadashi tried the calmer route and made attempts to keep a leveled head. "It's okay, it's okay. Aunt Cass is probably making the deal as we speak. She'll be fine and so will you."

Baymax began to pat Hiro's head. "It will be alright. There, there," he attempted to coo, but his robotic voice did little to actually help. "Treatment is not working... Shall I try gummy bears?" His finger was in the air as if he had a "Eureka!" moment. "Sweets such as gummy bears usually help elevate Hiro's dopamine levels."

Tadashi gave Hiro a look. "You're going to get cavities if you keep eating those things," he mock-scolded, then he looked back at Baymax for a moment. "Go get the sweet-freak some gummy bears, please." When Baymax nodded and left to go attack the machine and possibly rob it if he didn't have any money, Tadashi turned his attention back to Hiro. "So they came back after a day, huh? You do realize this isn't always going to work, right? They'll come and get you eventually if you keep coming here. What you can do is fly around the city and tire them out. Wouldn't that be fun? Or you could escape to a free country. Pack a couple of bags and get a move on."

Hiro already knew he couldn't keep returning and was ready to hear alternative ways of avoiding the officers. Well, almost ready. Leaving the country was unthinkable. "I'll just fly around. There is no way I can leave you and Aunt Cass."

Tadashi shook his head and sighed. Leaving the country was the best option he had in mind, actually, and flying around would eventually stop working. "Fine, but you have to promise me one thing." He looked Hiro straight in the eyes. "If they arrest Aunt Cass or me, or the both of us, you leave our country and go somewhere else, somewhere that isn't involved with our problems." The order sounded ridiculous to the young teen, they wouldn't arrest the _both_ of them... right? "You're going to leave and you're not going to come back until it's all over."

Hiro would have suggested that they all leave together, but then he realized they may end up broke. "I... I can't do that, Tadashi!" He didn't want to be alone.

"_Promise_ _me_!" Tadashi insisted. "We don't have much of a choice. It'll be too much trouble for them to chase you that far, so that's arguably the best option we have. Do you understand?"

Hiro shook his head. He wanted to scream, to shout, to say _something_ to make Tadashi shut up about that nonsense! He couldn't leave them alone, he couldn't! Besides, who would be there for him? Who would take care of him? He was only a kid, not even old enough for a job yet! "No!" he snapped. "Tadashi, I can't do that!"

"Hiro, could you listen to me this one TIME?!" Tadashi's fist knocked over the desk next to him and they proceeded to stare at it, shocked.

The sound of walking vinyl alerted them to Baymax's return. "I have gummy bears," the robot announced, walking in and holding them out for Hiro. "My sensors indicate that you two are angry. What seems to be the trouble?" Tadashi huffed and shut his eyes in frustration while Hiro slowly took the gummy bears from Baymax and opened the pack.

"I can't leave you two here," Hiro muttered in a low voice and swallowed a lump. "I'd even beat the crap out of one of them if I had to, I can't just let them lock you up to rot in a cell." Tadashi hadn't been concerned about how they'd be treated in prison. If Hiro made it out alive, what did his life matter to him as long as his baby brother was safe? Well Hiro didn't think like that, apparently.

The elder Hamada was about to reply, but Baymax interrupted. "My sensors indicate a swarm of people approaching," the nursing bot said. "Two of them are familiar. Oh no."

The man's eyes widened and he quickly turned to Hiro. "Hiro you gotta go, _now_," he said urgently. "Please, hurry. Get out of here!" He stood up, ignoring the feeling he received earlier today and covered his brother. "Hiro, please, get on Baymax and _go_."

Hiro began to open the window, but it was too late. The officers were coming in. "Hiro Hamada, you are coming with us now," one of them said as he approached the boy. "You have evaded us long enough."

Baymax stepped in front of the officer. "Hello, I am Baymax, Hiro's personal healthcare companion," he greeted in an eerily polite tone. His dotted eyes then narrowed. "I suggest you step back, as you are causing distress for my patient. Please consider his health and leave him alone."

Tadashi hugged his brother and growled at the officers. There was no way in hell he'd let them take Hiro. Never. "Step back," he warned. "I'll kill the first one that lays a finger on my baby brother."

They didn't see Tadashi as a threat, considering the fact that he was in the hospital as well as a patient. He couldn't do much... or so they thought. Tadashi was running on determination, trying to keep his brother safe.

When they made a move, he attacked.

Hiro watched in horror and Baymax wrapped his balloony arms around him protectively, just as Tadashi did. Hiro's eyes were covered, but he could hear everything and he froze when he heard _it_: the gunshot.

And someone had fallen to the ground.


	6. Chapter 6

**CA: You know, we planned to not post for a few days...**

**RFC: Well this _is_ another cliffhanger.**

**CA: So we decided to post this before taking a break for a few days!**

**RFC: Yeah, they're gonna hate us so much. You guys hate us, right?**

**CA: Or do you love us for this story?  
><strong>

**RFC: This is like the second cliffhanger. No one likes cliffhangers. You should have seen how we all acted after Mark of Athena.**

**CA: Eh? How did you act?**

**RFC: I may or may not have made a bet that Percy and Annabeth were gonna die in Tartarus.**

**CA: You lost?**

**RFC: Yep. Got stuck as a servant for a day. You know, after House of Hades came out...**

**CA: Before you go on a rant, let's cut to the chase.**

**RFC: Ha ha, Annabeth Chase**

**CA: Our readers will be stuck with a cliffhanger for a few days. Sing the song with me!**

**RFC: CLIFFHANGER**

**CA: Hanging from a CLIIIIIIIIIFF!**

**RFC: So while I eat chocolate pound cake and Craze does whatever she's doing right now, we shall laugh at your misery.**

**CA: And that's why he's called Cliff Hanger!**

**RFC: Who is this Cliff Hanger you speak of?**

**CA: Google it. Can't... hold... on... much... longer...!**

**RFC: What.**

**CA: That's what he keeps saying.**

**RFC: That's weird.**

**CA: Cliff Hanger comes from a little kid's show I used to watch all the time.**

**RFC: I watched crappy shows I can barely remember.**

**CA: I hardly remember this show. Has something to do with lions and books. Anyway, readers enjoy! And be tormented...**

* * *

><p>"Tadashi! Tadashi!" Hiro screamed. He couldn't see anything so he hoped that it was one of the policemen that had fallen and not his older brother. Hiro almost panicked when someone grabbed him but he saw his older brother's familiar face and sighed. For a moment he was relieved, the next he was hugging his brother, crying, afraid. Hiro felt Baymax pick them both up and soon had flown out of the hospital, leaving the cops behind.<p>

Tadashi hadn't completely heale yet but he could no longer stay at the hospital. He'd have to work with Baymax's care for now.

"Where shall we go?" Baymax asked, once again flying aimlessly. "I do not advise returning to the cafe. That may be the most obvious place to go. Shall I contact your aunt to let her know we will be elsewhere?"

Tadashi nodded. "Just camp out at the bridge," he said, holding onto Baymax as tight as he possibly could. Most of the time he had to depend on Hiro to help him stay on the robot's back. "I'm flippin' tired." Never challenge a fully-armed cop when you haven't fully recovered yet. Ever.

Baymax made way for the giant red bridge and settled on one of its peaks. "I shall be contacting Cass Hamada," he said, and her icon appeared on his screen.

Hiro was glancing back an forth between the is appearing hospital and his older brother. Tadashi needed to be there, he hadn't fully recovered and yet here he was, on top of a robot having to deal with flying on Baymax _and_ the speed that he wasn't completely used to yet.

"Tadashi, I-"

"Everything hurts," Tadashi muttered. His legs ached, he felt as though he couldn't hold on to Baymax any longer, his head hurt, his stomach hurt, and his chest had a huge sharp pain that hurt so much that he didn't even want to breathe.

"You didn't have to do that," Hiro muttered as he dismounted and took a seat. "I could have escaped with Baymax through the window just fine." Could he have? The officer had been moving towards him quite quickly and it took time to get the window open.

Tadashi slipped off Baymax and collapsed. He wished he felt healthier but he'd been stuck in a shit place with nothing to do and the food was crap so he refused to eat much.

Now he wished he ate something. "Baymax, scan Hiro," he said tiredly.

Hiro flailed his arms defensively. "N-no, you don't have to scan me!" It was too late, however, as Baymax had already complied.

"Scan complete. Hiro's neurotransmitter levels suggest fear and guilt. You've been feeling guilty a lot," the robot noted. "Is there anything that may help you?"

Tadashi no longer spoke. He coughed several times and took deep breaths to level his breathing to a normal pace. God, why did it feel like he just went twelve rounds with a brick wall? "Contact Aunt Cass an let them talk," he said.

Baymax had already been in the middle of contacting, but for some reason she didn't answer. "It seems no one is home, or your aunt is unable to respond at this time. Shall I try again later?"

"Hiro," Tadashi wanted to pass out. "Go home." It took so much just to keep the stuttering away. "Look for Aunt Cass." He didn't want to move anymore. This pain was beginning to get unbearable.

Hiro began to worry. "Tadashi? Tadashi, are you okay?" He sat next to his brother and looked worriedly at him. He couldn't tell if Tadashi was dying or just really, really tired.

Baymax seemed to know what he was thinking, as he began yet another scan. "Tadashi is fatigued," he assured. "With enough rest and no sudden movement, he should recover as before."

Hiro seemed to sigh with relief and he kept his gaze locked onto his big brother. Tadashi was going to be fine, he was going to be fine. Or that's what Hiro kept telling himself. "Nii-chan," he said, hugging Tadashi. "If Aunt Cass has been arrested, what then?" What then? Tadashi hadn't really thought about it. Their only option may be to run, but he didn't want to leave her behind. Could they even rescue her? They had no means, no answers.

So instead he smiled weakly and finally said something. "You're going to leave," he said, a tone of regret evident. "You're going to leave and you can't come back until the war is over. I'll stay behind, maybe when I recover they'll drag my ass in instead."

Hiro was horrified at the thought. What if they make Tadashi a soldier? "I told you I'm not going to leave you here! Let's all leave together!" Sure, he had reasoned before that they might go broke if they did leave together, but now he was starting to think it was much better than going off alone and leaving his family behind. Besides, he was sure he could make money easy enough through bot fighting.

"If I can't handle a single flight from the hospital to this bridge, what makes you think that I can handle a longer trip?" Tadashi countered. "Aunt Cass is going to be stuck trying to find a job and I don't even know where I'd be going. You're too young to get a job and I'm not even sure if Baymax would be accepted over there." As depressing as it sounded, it was true.

He didn't want to keep talking but he did. "And taking the three of us as well as our bags would weigh our robot down. We can't take several trips either. Baymax can't fit in a plane nor a boat. What's your big idea?"

"You're just tired from fighting off the officers, that's all. I'm sure you're strong enough to last a long trip, and Baymax will make sure you're not jostled too much." Hiro tried to keep from choking up. He wasn't ready to go _anywhere_! "I can support us through bot fighting, so money shouldn't be an issue. As for Baymax carrying us, didn't you tell me he could lift a thousand pounds? That shouldn't be a problem then, and we don't have to take all our stuff."

"And how long will it take to get to a freer country? Hiro, Baymax's batteries are easy to charge but they deplete easily as well. He can only last a day or two without charging."

Now Hiro wasn't sure what to say. They could take Baymax's luggage charger, but they would need an outlet to change his battery. Even if they could manage, the robot probably depleted a lot of his power by now. "Isn't there another way...?"

Tadashi shook his head. "No, there's really no other way. We don't have time to remake his battery nor do we have the time to even test it. I have 0to stay back and help out at the cafe if Aunt Cass had been arrested and I still have to go to school."

Hiro stared at the floor, feeling very much defeated. "They'll go after you for attacking the cops, won't they? There's no way you can stay here..." He wasn't sure why it was taking him so long to admit that he just didn't want to be alone, didn't want to worry about his brother and their aunt while away.

"Yes, they will. But I can't go. I can't leave Aunt Cass here. They can arrest me and throw me in jail or they can kill me for all I care. You just get out of here. I promise, I'll find a way to tell you once it's all over." Tadashi sat up and looked at Baymax. "Take us back to the cafe, give Hiro some time to pack and escort Hiro to the nearest country."

"No!" Hiro cried out, only to feel Baymax's hand on his shoulder.

"Tadashi's mind is set, and so is my objective," the nursing bot informed him, strangely looking more serious than before. "Shall we depart for Lucky Cat Cafe?"

As Tadashi said "Yes," Hiro had shouted "No!" Ignoring his little brother's protests, Tadashi climbed on Baymax and held on. "We should head back."

Baymax blinked and waited for Hiro to climb on. "Hiro, we do not have much time," the robot had said. "You must hurry."

Hiro refused to climb. "I'm not going. I'm not leaving you here!" he declared stubbornly, crossing his arms. "There's another way, I know it!"

Deciding not to waste any more time arguing, Baymax pulled Hiro towards him and kept him in place with his arms despite the protests. "There is no time. We must depart."

"Let go of me, Baymax! I don't want to go!" Hiro shouted, struggling to escape, but the robot had a strangely firm grip on him. "Let me go!" A scream ripped out of his throat as Baymax began flying through the air towards home.

Tadashi suddenly wished he were deaf. He didn't want to have to listen to Hiro screaming and protesting about how there would be another way when there _wasn't_. Hiro _had_ to go alone. Baymax can't fly and if Hiro took a plane it'd be easier, he had a passport and if the bribe didn't work, he could use Tadashi's money as a last minute ticket.

"Hiro, _shut up and listen_," Tadashi snapped, successfully shutting up his brother. "I'm a murderer, I killed a cop in that hospital and I could either be forced out onto the battlefield or I'll be put in jail. I can't go anywhere, I'm stuck here and that's fine by me if you're out of here."

Hiro could only try to look up at his brother. "Please, Tadashi...!" He was at a loss for words, but he knew what he wanted to say. He didn't want to lose his brother. The fire that hospitalized him was bad enough! "Don't make me leave. Not like this."

Tadashi didn't change his mind no matter how much he really wanted to. Hiro _had_ to be safe. He was too young to go to war and Tadashi knew that if he made a full recovery soon, he'd be able to join that war for his baby brother. Maybe he would die, but Tadashi had lived longer than Hiro had.

"You have to go." Tadashi wouldn't listen to what Hiro had to say, not anymore. He was going to leave this place today whether he liked it or not and when he comes back the war will be over. They'd all end up having to live a long time without each other but it wouldn't be forever, Tadashi was sure about that. "I'm sorry." When they arrived at the cafe, Aunt Cass was there, cleaning up. It was very late at night now but Tadashi hopped off of Baymax and opened the doors. Aunt Cass looked up and smiled weakly at them.

"They trashed the place," she said sadly.

"Hiro's gonna go pack his stuff," Tadashi said. "and he's going to leave, _right, Hiro_?"

Hiro looked pleadingly at Aunt Cass, begging her to convince Tadashi to let him stay, but only saw that she was with the elder brother on this matter. "Right," Hiro sighed as he slowly trudged up to his room to pack what he needed for the journey.

Tadashi sighed and ruffled his hair, some random habit that jumped up randomly, and told her, "You need to hide." It wasn't a suggestion, it sounded more like an order than one. "I'll turn myself in, sign up for war to pay off the murder." Aunt Cass looked horrified, Tadashi _killed_ someone?!

"What murder?" she asked, afraid of the answer. "Did you kill a civilian?" Tadashi only shook his head to make sure she didn't start to freak out. A cop wasn't the same thing as a civilian. Cops were assholes.

"No, I killed a policeman." Tadashi no longer sounded regretful, only angry. "I killed that cop and I actually don't care. I told them to stay away, I warned them."

Hiro overheard the conversation while filling up his backpack and putting it next to Baymax's luggage. Tadashi did nothing wrong. He was just trying to protect him, that's all. What would that be called then? Manslaughter?

Aunt Cass didn't yell or flinch away, she only hugged Tadashi, telling him, "It wasn't your fault." Tadashi didn't believe her, if he were to be completely honest with himself, he would have throw himself in jail and rot. Sure the cop had been asking for it, and he had been warned, but he could have had a family, someone waiting for him to sit down at the dinner table.

He didn't feel bad for killing the man. No he couldn't have cared less. He felt bad for the famiy he may have broken out there. What he did to them was what he didn't want happening to him. He could have just said that he was protecting Hiro, which he was, but it didn't justify the fact that he may have left a family heartbroken.

Alone.

Before long, Hiro had finished packing and brought everything downstairs. Baymax, upon seeing, walked over to his luggage and shrunk in, now looking like an actual luggage.

For a moment, Hiro wanted to stay quiet, but he was going to leave eventually. Might as well get it over with soon. "Well, I'm ready," he finally announced.

Tadashi smiled at his brother and walked over to him, pulling his baby brother into a hug. "You have the money for the plan ticket?" He asked. "Hey, you're crying..." He wiped the oncoming tears and smiled at Hiro, his forced smile was much more convincing than Hiro's.

A lot had happened in such little time. It was depressing how you could be happy one moment and the next you're saying goodbye to a loved one. "Don't cry, baby bro, you'll be back soon. Just think of this as a really long vacation. Have fun where you're going and you'll be back before you can even say 'bot fighting'."

Now that Tadashi had told him not to cry, Hiro really couldn't hold back his tears. "It won't be fun without you," he whimpered, clutching his brother's jacket tightly. Maybe he should have just gone with the officers. If he knew he would be leaving home anyway, maybe it would have been better if he left for war. "I should have gone with them! You wouldn't have been in trouble if I didn't try to run."

Tadashi smiled sadly and ruffled Hiro's hair. "You were scared, it's understandable. And what I did, I did on my own will. I didn't have to do it, remember?" Aunt Cass joined the hug as well, calling Hiro her baby boy. This was their goodbye. Hiro would be gone, Tadashi would be thrown into jail and possibly into the army if they didn't have anyone else, and Aunt Cass would be all alone... "I love you, Otouto..."

Hiro's throat closed up before he could respond. "Onii-chan..." was all he could manage. Hearing an inflating sound, he figured that Baymax decided to join them in the hug

"Everything will be alright," the nursing bot assured. "There, there, there." He patted each person on the head before deflating back into his luggage.

Tadashi smiled and let out a choked laugh. He let go of Hiro and took his things to Aunt Cass' car. He was going to miss Hiro a lot but this was going to be much better, he was sure about that. It was so late that it seemed almost impossible that They were still going out to the airport but the cops should have been asleep by now, it would have been better.

Hiro took a seat in the back, away from the windows in case the cops decided to look. He heard Canada would be a decent place to go to. They weren't very involved in this war, so maybe he could be safe there. "Are we going to talk often?" he asked. "Just to check up on each other and all?"

"Of course," Tadashi said as if it were obvious. "Though I'm pretty sure we're going to keep each other up. Can't get over how much _fun _talking on the phone is." Tadashi smiled and took the passenger's seat. He was covering his face with his hand, making it look like he was sleeping so the cops wouldn't recognize him.

Baymax' case was set next to Hiro. The dotted eyes, not yet deactivated, looked up at him. "Staying up all night is not a healthy lifestyle choice," he said. "However, talking to those you miss does wonders for mental health. I will let it slide." He blinked a few times. "Did I use that expression properly?"

"Yeah, buddy, you used it properly," Hiro said, smiling at how Baymax was like a big marshmallow baby. He was still trying to learn many things and expressions was one of them. So far he was passing the test. "Do you think where I'm going will have the same timezone as you guys?"

Tadashi shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Don't worry, though. We'll try to be awake when you need us," he said. Aunt Cass began to start the car and they were soon off for the airport.

Hiro was staring out the window, holding his passport in his hand and he was breathing shakily. How was Tadashi doing now? "Baymax, scan Tadashi," he said quiet enough for only Baymax to hear him. "Please."

Baymax complied. "His neurotransmitter levels suggest longing. He is already missing you."

Tadashi looked at the red box briefly. "Do you have to announce every emotion?"

"This situation is very emotional. Now, let me finish," the nursing robot said. "Your muscles seem to have settled. Do not move for a few days more and you will make full recovery."

Hiro smiled sadly at that and patted Baymax's luggage. "Does that mean that Dashi has to live in Aunt Cass' car?" He asked. "Is he allowed to shower? Does the car have to be in a garage? How boring is it gonna be?"

"I do not mean he literally should not move an inch," Baynax said as if pointing out something Hiro had missed. He was sure the boy was joking, though. "Do not try to shower in a car."

Tadashi chuckled at that. "I think he meant that I shouldn't get too active, Hiro," he said. "And I don't think we can shower in a car. If we did, Hiro would have taken the idiot's route and tried it.

"Hey!" Hiro snapped. "I'm not deaf, I can hear you!"

"I think that was the point."

Cass had to chuckle at the playful bickering. "Oh, you two. Or three, now. You're always trying to get on one another's nerves," she commented. She was going to miss their interactions, but hopefully the separation won't be for long.

"He started it," Tadashi and Hiro said at the same time. Baymax blinked and the. He said as if this was a game and he had to imitate them, "He started it." Hiro and Tadashi looked at Baymax before bursting in a fit of laughter. Tadashi was going to miss making Hiro laugh but hopefully Baymax being literal all the time would fill in for him for a bit.

"It looks like everyone is now in a good mood, are you satisfied with your care?" Baymax asked after examining everyone.

Hiro looked at Baymax and smiled slightly. "I am satisfied with my care." He would reactivate Baymax when he needed him again. When Baymax's eyes closed to a line, he sighed and left his arm there. "Tadashi, are you gonna miss me when I'm gone?"

Tadashi smirked for a bit. "I'm gonna miss you by your hair, I'm gonna miss you everywhere, yes, I'm gonna miss you when you're gone," he answered.

"You just had to..." Hiro muttered. "You're so obsessed with that song, Tadashi, why?" Hiro huffed and crossed his arms, snickering at how he could later use this as blackmail.

"Not obsessed," Tadashi corrected, "I just found the opportunity to quote the lyrics." He wanted to keep the mood light, after all.

"No, no, you're obsessed," Hiro said. "You have been singing that a lot since you found it." He was exaggerating that part, Tadash only sang it once or twice a week when he was extremely bored or desperate to keep them from fighting.

"I do _not_!" Tadashi tried to sound irritated, but he only ended up laughing. "Well, maybe occasionally, but it's not bad compared to what stuck to _your_ mind. At least I didn't try to program Baymax with weird dance moves. Remember how traumatized you were when—"

"Don't say it! I _just_ got that mental imagery out of my head!" Hiro shouted, covering his ears and going 'lalalala' to keep his brother out. Don't imagine it, don't imagine it! It was stuck in his mind again, the horrible dance that never made any sense to Hiro and just looked like an abomination of movement: _twerking_. "Tadashiiiii! Why do you do this to meeeeee?!"

Tadashi laughed at Hiro's pain, temporarily forgetting about the current situation. He was happy and having fun for once, feeling as if he were on a road trip, making Hiro relive through _very_ traumatizing memories just to pass time. "Experiment gone wrong. But I didn't think you'd actually think to-"

"OKAY, that's enough!" Hiro laughed nervously. Aunt Cass still didn't really... know about the whole thing and he'd prefer to keep it that way.

"Is this something I should know about?" Cass questioned playfully. "Seems a pretty big deal if Hiro's practically screaming his head off."

Tadashi didn't stop laughing. "It's just a traumatizing moment for baby Hiro." Tadashi only laughed harder when Hiro started sputtering and protesting that he wasn't a baby. "Don't let little Otouto relive the moment."

Cass shrugged. "As long as it isn't anything inappropriate. It's nothing of the sort, right?" She stopped the car in the parking lot of the airport. "We're here..."

And soon Tadashi's laughter died down and the car was silent. As stated before, he'd totally forgotten where they were going. It felt like just another ordinary night, until they arrived at the airport. He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the car door to step out.

The air was freezing, like it would snow at any second. Tadashi had forgotten to change out of his hospital clothing which meant that he had no way of warming up besides the car heater but he was going to see Hiro's departure, just to make sure he would be alright.

Tadashi looked back to see Hiro slowly stepping out of the car, eyeing the port as though it had been one of the cops that tried to take him away. Noticing the discomfort, Tadashi placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder and smiled.

"You'll be okay."

They were already here, but Hiro just wanted to go home. He looked up at Tadashi with pleading eyes again. A final attempt to change his mind.

"No," was the response he got when his brother locked eyes with him. "Please, just don't. You're going to a safe place until the war is over. That is final." Tadashi patted Hiro's back to reassure him. "You'll be fine. It's not like you're going away for good... Wars never last _that_ long."

Hiro hugged Tadashi and refused to let go. "I don't wanna go without you guys..." He admitted. "I don't want to lose you..." Wars didn't last long if the sides weren't as stubborn. This war could last at most ten years. He'd be of legal age to move out by then. He didn't want that... "Are you sure you can't come along, Dashi?"

"I have to take responsibility for my crime," Tadashi answered. "Don't worry, alright? We'll be together again and everything can go back to normal when this is all over." Will it? Killing a cop, even if trying to defend someone, was no small matter.

Hiro sighed, deciding to give up on it now. He wouldn't give up on Tadashi, just that matter of trying to get him to come along. It seemed that his mind was made up no matter what, Tadashi didn't seem to care what would happen to him if he got arrested, only that Hiro would make it out safely. "Promise?"

Tadashi nodded. "Promise. Now, are we gonna stand here all night or are we gonna catch a flight? Let's go already," he said, pulling away from the hug and pulling Hiro towards the airport. "We've used up enough time as is."

As they walked closer and closer toward the port, Hiro felt a sense of dread. At first it was small but the closer they got, it began to grow and grow until he felt as though he'd never be able to come back. He'd never see Tadashi again, there was that feeling and he didn't even know where it was coming from. Soon enough they were right in front of the doors and he was sure his face reflected how he was feeling; fear. He'd been feeling scared a lot lately and he never thought it would really ever happen. He never thought he'd be at an airport to leave his family behind because he was too much of a coward to really face this _thing_ head on.

Was this a normal feeling? Being afraid of war? Was it the right thing to do, leaving San Fransokyo, leaving Tadashi and Aunt Cass behind just because he was afraid of dying in the battlefield? Hiro didn't want to leave, not without them. If they were staying behind he would want to do that as well. It all came back to him, all the trouble he'd put Tadashi and Aunt Cass through only to be sent away and now they were in trouble because of him. Because he was too scared.

They purchased a ticket and were ready to part ways at a gate where only passengers may enter. Hiro was reluctant to let go, even now. "Why do I feel like this is goodbye?" he asked almost sorrowfully.

Tadashi patted Hiro's shoulder and lightly pushed him forward. This was their exit. Hiro was going to go somewhere else, Tadashi would be thrown into jail, and Aunt Cass would have to go into hiding. "You'll be back soon," Tadashi said, trying to stay positive. Though he couldn't let Hiro go without him hearing this. "I love you, Otouto."

"I love you too, Onii-chan," Hiro replied, and then he turned to face Aunt Cass, who was speechless as she tried not to burst into tears. "I love you, Auntie Cass." Within moments, the floodgates had opened and he was practically crushed in her arms for some moments before he was let go and nudged towards the gate. He glanced back at them often before he had to make a turn and could no longer see them.

Tadashi could feel his heart get heavier when Hiro disappeared in the crowd. There went his baby brother. He turned around and helped Aunt Cass walk away. He was walking slow, looking back, wishing he could still see little Hiro but he was probably already gone by now. After two minutes, Tadashi decided not to waste any more time and he started walking again. Aunt Cass was covering his mouth to keep from sobbing but soon she couldn't hold it in and she threw her arms around Tadashi and cried.

They had stepped out of the building when Tadashi faintly heard Hiro screaming his name as if in terror. He looked back for a moment, but no one else seemed to have heard. Maybe it was just his imagination...


	7. Chapter 7

**RFC: I know, I know, it's a relatively short chapter... Not as long as I'm used to anymore.**

**CA: We ran out of material.**

**RFC: I wanna kill someone.**

**CA: Eh...?**

**RFC: What? So I feel like giving someone a slow painful death.**

**CA: Oh gosh you.**

**RFC: Like I said, in the depressive mood.**

* * *

><p><strong>~Hiro's Point~<strong>

Hiro woke up inside a large building. He was on a cot, clean but small. Next to it sat Wasabi. He'd been waiting for Hiro to wake up apparently.

"Hey, little man. How're you?" Wasabi asked, smiling lightly.

"W-Wasabi?" Hiro sat up, still feeling disoriented. "I thought you got drafted... Where are we?" The last thing he had remembered was some pain, Baymax inflating, and then being taken somewhere... "The cops! They were at the airport. Tadashi didn't come..."

Wasabi put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down a bit. You just woke up," he advised. "Take a few deep breaths. One, two, three, good. Now, tell me what you remember."

Hiro racked his brain and beat himself up over trying to remember. "I-I was at the airport. Tadashi was trying to help me escape but he couldn't get past the floodgates. I went ahead and... The cops came and took me away... I tried to scream for Tadashi. He didn't come." Wasabi looked at Hiro with pity in his eyes.

"Tadashi didn't hear you..." he said. "He was probably gone by the time the cops came and got you..."

That would make sense. There was no way Tadashi would have let Hiro get taken away. "Probably... Ah, where are we? This looks like an infirmary of some sort."

"You're in the military defense lab," Wasabi answered. "It's pretty cool, I suppose. I mean it's better than being out on the field like Fred." Fred was out on the field? "Don't worry. He's got someone to watch his back."

"Who?" Whoever it was must be pretty good at whatever they were doing if they can take care of Fred. Not that he was incompetent or anything, but the way he sees things could be worrying.

Wasabi only shrugged. "I dunno. But knowing Fred, he's probably already found someone to follow his buddy rule." Tadashi. Hiro wished Tadashi were here. "I worry about him. He sees everything as an adventure, watching real people get killed as killing real people will change him drastically." He didn't meet Hiro's eyes but Hiro could catch a hint of guilt and worry in Wasabi's eyes.

"Are we the only ones here from San Fransokyo?" Hiro asked. If he recalled, GoGo and Honey had been drafted as well. Were they also working here? Making armor and weapons? Did they have the same guilt in their eyes?

"No. There are three others. Two are here for sure, the last person was just a rumor." Hiro sat up fully and rubbed his forehead, trying to keep his entire melon from hurting.

"Who are they?" He asked.

"GoGo and Honey Lemon are here for sure. Rumor has it that a male who shot a cop entered the army... Well he didn't really enter the battlefield but he's definitely in the militia. Word travels fast, you know."

Man who shot a cop... Was it Tadashi? Hiro wasn't sure what to say about that. "What about Baymax? I know he activated before I passed out, so something might have happened." The cops didn't shoot him, did they? Probably could be fixed, but the idea of the robot being shot was still uncomfortable.

"Baymax is a nurse in the infirmary. He's helped a lot if people. Insulted some people as well. I think he called one of the sergeants obese." Typical Baymax. Wasabi was laughing as he spoke now. "The guy got so mad."

Hiro started laughing as well and then held up a hand. "My sensors indicate that you are obese. I suggest lots of exercise and a variety of vegetables that you probably never ate," he tried to imitate. "Innocently insensitive, that robot."

"He was eating a donut when Baymax said that and it was hilarious. Now now one wants to let it go. They keep repeating exactly what he said around the poor man. Heard some of them even got the death glare for a while and as silly as it sounds, I wouldn't want to deal with that."

"What's a fat sergeant doing in the military anyway?" Hiro asked. "Aren't they supposed to be gung-ho on training and fitness or something? What kind of system are they running here?"

Wasabi only shrugged and made a tune at the back of his throat that sounded like "I dunno." GoGo walked by and set a food tray down before walking off. "It's a pretty sucky system if they forced you here."

Hiro would have greeted GoGo if she hadn't walked off so quickly. "I wonder how Tadashi and Aunt Cass are doing. They probably think I managed to board that plane..." What would happen if they can't contact him?

"Hey, Honey Lemon! Can you come here for a second?" When she hopped over and saw Hiro, she squealed and hugged him so tight he felt as though his eyes would pop out of his head. And all Wasabi did was sit back in his seat and laugh.

All the oxygen was squeezed out of Hiro. "H-Honey...! I can't... breathe...!" he rasped as he squirmed.

After some moments, she let him go. "Hiro, you're awake! Looks like you got drafted as well, huh?" she asked, ruffling his hair. "How are Tadashi and your aunt? Do they know you're here? You were brought in unconscious, so I got worried..."

At the mention of Tadashi, Hiro's mood drooped and he was back to frowning. Tadashi didn't know, he probably thought that he was in another place, safe. Part of him was glad that he was here since he wouldn't be alone and he was still close to Tadashi but another part of him was scared.

After a couple of minutes of stares and trying to think up of lies, Hiro finally forced a smile and said, "Nope."

It was just as Honey Lemon thought. Hiro had been brought here against his will. "They aren't supposed to do this..." she muttered out loud, her smile disappearing. "Resorting to kidnapping now?" Was the war _that_ bad?

Hiro, out of habit, went in for a hug. He wanted reassurance and it worked best from Tadashi but it could help a little with Honey Lemon being there. "I don't like it here," he mumbled. "I wanna go home. I want Tadashi. I want Auntie Cass."

Honey was all-too willing to oblige. "Oh, Hiro, you'll be alright," she promised. "They let us visit home every once in a while, so you'll see them again pretty soon."

Wasabi didn't speak throughout the entire thing, he only watched, feeling sad that this had happened. How was Fred feeling then? Did he miss his father? Was it a bad idea to tell him that he'd been drafted? Instead of saying any more, Wasabi only stood up and went back to his working space, knowing full well that some idiot would probably waltz in here and try to touch the laser plasma.

"What if they force Tadashi into the army? He should be fully recovered now, what if they make him fight on the field?"

Honey wasn't sure how to answer that, except... "Maybe you can make something to protect him if that's the case," she suggested. "You've got a big brain. I'm sure you'll think of something. Maybe that's even why you're here." She would go on a whole talk about fate, but it didn't seem appropriate.

Hiro nodded and slid off the cot. Well it wouldn't do much just to sit around and mope. "Alright..." If he was going to be stuck here until the god damn war was over, he was going to do something to pass the time. Who knows, maybe it'll be like the normal life here... Except bunch of adults would be around and it would be the worst place to make jokes...

Honey smiled a bit now. "Alright, that's set," she declared. "You don't have to get to work right away, especially since you just woke up. Just rest until you're ready." With that, she returned to her station. There was some tungsten carbide she needed to test on.

Hiro didn't want to be here but now that he was far from home, he knew that it would be pointless to try and leave now. They'd only come back to take him away and seriously, he was too tired to deal with assholes... "I'm gonna work. Might as well, I got some battle bots I want to try making them." Even if it wasn't for the army...

* * *

><p><strong>~Tadashi's Point~<strong>

**A Few Weeks Later...**

First day on the battlefield, Tadashi thought to himself. He may have said he would become a soldier as retribution for killing the officer, but he hadn't really expected it to actually happen. Maybe there was a high demand for soldiers now.

Well, in any case, this was his first day in the field and already he knew just why Hiro didn't want to be here. There was death at every corner, and bodies were nothing more than obstacles to these people. No one paid any mind when a foot crushed a skull or if one of the deceased was used as a meat shield.

It was horrible.

No matter where he turned he'd see someone get shot at. When he turned his head to the left, he almost screamed in terror. There, a boy who looked about Hiro's age was shot dead. If Hiro was here, that would have been him. That would have been him.

Tadashi was almost glad that he was here instead of Hiro. It seemed only those with fast reflexes would be the ones to make it out alive. Shots fired and blood spilled. It was impossible to find a single blade of grass with no blood on it.

It was impossible to find any blade of grass at all now.

Hiding in a trench, Tadashi had to peek out in order to get a shot. Each time was risky, and he had to be quick. A bullet could end him at any time.

It didn't help that the screams of pain and terror made it hard for him to focus.

Oh God... Was that poor guy trying to hold in his intestines?

"What the hell do we do now?!" Someone screamed to no one in particular. They were all lost, only knowing that they had to shoot the enemy. There was no strategy.

Tadashi was reluctant to shoot anyone, though he knew he'd have to if he wanted to survive. For Hiro. For Aunt Cass. He was going to go home. The determination was set and he lifted his gun, calming his trembling hands and fired another bullet.


	8. Chapter 8

**CA: Didn't expect another update so quickly?**

**RFC: It usually takes us two days to write things like this.**

**CA: ****Not really. We usually just want to write a chapter a day. Anyway, since you all were patient and suffering from cliffhanger, our hearts were touched and we decided on a mass updating spree!**

**RFC: XD Yeah, and then another cliffhanger.**

**CA: Did we plan that far yet?**

**RFC: Knowing us, we're probably thinking of another one.**

**CA: I think I know just the one!**

**RFC: Aaaaaaannnnd we now have a cliffhanger sometime soon.**

* * *

><p>Tadashi was shaking his head, dunking his face in water, trying to get the images out of his head. The sounds of gunshots were still ringing in his head and it was killing him. He was scared and traumatized from the violence. Soon he was muttering, "It's not Hiro, It's not Hiro," several times. That was the only way he could keep himself together.<p>

It didn't help. Every fourteen-year-old Tadashi saw looked like Hiro. The first time he saw his brother in a fallen soldier, he had been stuck there, mourning for hours, only to find that the kid looked nothing like Hiro and he was crying over a stranger. He had to keep reminding himself that Hiro was out of the country, safe and sound, and yet it sounded so wrong. What if Hiro didn't make it?

No, no, he was safe. Tadashi saw him go. But that scream... Should he have checked? It sounded so real...

_Boom_. Another shot. Tadashi turned to the right and saw another kid Hiro's age falling to the ground. From instinct he'd run over to the kid and tried to stop the bleeding, holding his hand in a death grip, trying to get him to calm down. He found himself on the ground all the time, trying to protect people instead of killing the enemy. He was the easy target and he couldn't stop himself from asking for their names. Just so he could remember them.

Oh god, he couldn't. He couldn't keep it from slipping every time he watched them die, helpless. "I'm so sorry."

Someone pulled Tadashi away from the dying boy. "You moron, stop trying to help every dying kid you see!" shouted one of the soldiers. Another shoved a firearm, he wasn't sure which, in his hands. "Focus on gunning down the enemy! Do that and you'll save more lives!" With that, Tadashi was left alone.

He glanced back at the fallen boy, just as he did with many others, and found him deathly still. He could have sworn he saw a tuft of unruly black hair...

Tadashi had long stopped mourning, but his grief had to come out. The next level was rage. He was shooting wildly at every enemy soldier he saw, screaming in rage. He had to destroy! Destroy the monsters that killed Hiro...!

No, Hiro was safe. He wasn't here...

Tadashi instantly stopped shooting and he lowered his gun. He slapped himself several times and was taking deep breaths. This place was Hell on Earth. Tadashi never thought he'd ever see this much blood in just one day. Just one day... Sure it had been weeks since he actually entered the battlefield but still... Just one day...

By now, Tadashi had been called back to base for dinner and then sleep. It was the same old routine. Shakily, as he still had yet to be used to this, he trudged to the base with the remaining soldiers of his group. Some looked at him in fear, and understandably so.

He had turned into a monster.

Tadashi entered the cafeteria and, without a sound, grabbed his food; bread and mashed potatoes plus a flipping cup of water (no the cup does not do flips). When he sat down, he only stared down at his food, blank at first but then with a frown. He had no appetite whatsoever but he still forced himself to down his food so that he could have enough strength for tomorrow (and possibly throw it all back up when he went back onto the battlefield).

Then he met Abigail Callaghan (well she just took a seat next to him). Name ring a bell? Well it should. It's the last name of the professor at SFIT. That's right, that was his daughter. "So, Mama Hamada," she said. "What's got you acting up so much?" Tadashi didn't answer her. He just ate his food. "Okay, not much of a talker. That's dull. Well hi, I'm Abigail Callaghan. You know my dad, right?" Of course he knew her dad! He friggin looked up to the guy! "Well since we're both here and we both kinda know each other, wanna be my army partner?"

"Are you going to stop trying to be my best friend if I agree?" Tadashi asked, trying to sound more annoyed than amused. It didn't really work out.

"No promises, Mama Bear!" Tadashi sighed at the nickname. It was a stupid one, really.

"We'll see," he said and brought his water cup up and downed the liquid. Once he was done, he threw away the remainder of his food and gave Abigail a brief glance before walking off with a small wave.

* * *

><p><strong>~Hiro's Point~<strong>

Hiro wiped the sweat off his brow as he finished smoothing out the edges of the armor. Having been given some measurements, he fashioned a prototype suit for the war soldiers in order to allow them to advance without fear of death. The stalemate they were at had been dragging on too long.

Wasabi had no idea how laser induced plasma was going to help anyone, really. He didn't. It was going to hurt like a bitch, that's what it was going to do. Hiro's work was much more effective in defense. Sure, the plasma that Wasabi had would be like another weapon so that they didn't need to carry around guns but it was going to _torture_ the other person.

"Do you know when Fred's gonna visit?" Hiro asked as he paused in his work. "I need to get his measurements for when I make his armor."

"He just comes and goes as he pleases," was Wasabi's reply. "He hasn't visited in a while, so he should be here any day now." The sound of doors slamming open was all too familiar. "Make that any moment."

"Wasabi, hey!" Fred said in a cheery tone. Most of the adults there ignored him except for Wasabi. "How're you and the little man?" Hiro huffed at that. He wasn't a little man.

"Seriously?" the young Hamada asked, raising a brow. "'Little man'?"

"Until I find a better nickname, yes," Fred answered and he set down his stuff. "Today was a good day. The enemy was mowed down by none other than the Mama Bear!" He imitated a ferocious bear stance. "I wish I could see him in action, but I'm never in the right place, you know?"

Hiro was even more confused. "Who the hell got the nickname of Mama Bear?" He asked. Wasabi only looked at him and shrugged, looking just as confused as he was.

"Who is this Mama Bear person? Are they seriously that famous?"

Fred shrugged. "I don't even know. We just know he's a crazy guy," he said. "I heard he goes nuts whenever a kid dies. Of course, I also heard he was recruited from an asylum." He narrowed his eyes and waved his fingers as if telling a scary story. "The world may never know."

"Doesn't he have any friends?" Hiro asked. "And I doubt they'd draft anyone from an asylum, do you, Wasabi?" Wasabi shook his head.

"Never heard of that happening," He admitted. Then the second sentence sank in. "He goes nuts when a kid dies?"

"Every. Single. Time! Just like a mother bear! Unstoppable!" Then the mood suddenly dropped when Fred recalled that today was one of the most... productive days. "Oh my god..." Even he wasn't immune to the effects of war. "Give me a moment."

Hiro patted Fred's arm reassuringly and he smiled sadly. "But he's a relatively good guy, right? I mean he's gotta be if he only go's crazy when a kid is killed. Doesn't that mean he cares?"

"It's alright, Fred, it'll be alright. I can't guarantee that the kids are in better places because I don't know myself but we can safely say that they will be remembered, right?" Wasabi tried to reassure Fred by patting his shoulder but it didn't help. Soldiers don't just get over the deaths of children just like that.

"They're just kids. They're supposed to be messing around with friends and playing video games," Fred whispered, unsure of whether to sob or stay silent. "Just kids... Today was... So many died today." He wasn't sure if today was the worst day or not.

"I'm not sure whether I should give you a hug or pat your back because I suck at comfort," Hiro finally said, sounding slightly guilty about that. Though looking up at Wasabi, his guilt wasn't able to compare to what he saw flashing in Wasabi's eyes.

The older college student looked like he was ready to cry. Almost as if he were blaming himself for Fred being like this.

"Wasabi?" Hiro pulled at his sleeve like a little kid. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing you should worry about, Hiro," Wasabi replied shakily. He was glad Honey was taking a break somewhere. He didn't know what he would do if she saw Fred like this and started crying. If there was anything anyone knew about Honey Lemon, it was that her tears could break anyone's heart.

Hiro looked up at Fred and smiled sadly. "Are you gonna be alright, Fred?" he asked. When there was no answer, he tried to change the subject since he didn't like seeing Fred like this. "Oh, before I forget, I need to make sure this armor fits you. If it makes out to be completely bulletproof, I don't think anymore kids will die!"

"Don't forget the poison gas," Fred said, though he had to smile a bit. "Some armor would really help. As cool as Mama Bear can be, I'd hate for any more deaths." He stood so Hiro could take his measurements. "So, how have you been adjusting? Not bad at the defense lab, eh?"

"Not really," he said. "I mean it's not as bad as what I thought it was be but I miss Dashi..." Fred smiled sadly down at Hiro and ruffled his hair.

"Hey, this isn't like you," he said. Like he was one to talk, he was the one who wasn't able to joke around as much anymore. "What happened to little sarcastic Hiro Hamada?"

"Whatever happened to the super cool Fredzilla?" Hiro retorted. "I guess this changed the both of us."

"Probably not so much in your case. You're safe from all the guns and gas." Fred sighed. "Tadashi would appreciate that, I'm sure. Maybe we can give him a call sometime and let him know you're alright." He had heard from Honey that Hiro was practically abducted for the lab. Tadashi must have been freaking out.

Hiro rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously. "Yeah... Uhh... About that..."

"Tadashi doesn't know that he's here," Wasabi supplied for him. "He thinks he's out of the country." Fred raised a brow, much like Hiro did a couple of minutes ago. Tadashi didn't know he was here?

"Yeah, they got me from the airport after Tadashi and Aunt Cass left..."

"Well, in that case, we need to call right away! Where's your marshmallow bot?" Fred jumped to his feet, ready to drag Hiro to wherever Baymax was. "We need to let your folks know where you've been all this time."

Hiro shook his head. He didn't want Tadashi to worry about him, not now. Not after all this time, he didn't want him to feel as though all his work hadn't been worth it.

"Baymax is in the infirmary as a nurse. He takes care of the injured there," Hiro mumbled. "Come on, try out the armor, Fred." He wanted to change the topic right now. "I wanna see if it fits."

"You didn't even measure me. Maybe you should find whoever owns the sample measurements," Fred commented.

"Oh, your measurements look pretty close. Now try it on."

Fred grumbled but tried on the armor and surprisingly, it fit just fine. Fred was surprised and felt somewhat violated. How the hell did Hiro know his size? "How long have you stared at me to know this?"

Hiro waved him off. "Pfft! What are you implying?" he asked. "I'm guessing it fits just fine? Maybe we can test it out sometime. Well, not with you in it, but you know what I mean."

"Can we try testing it out with me in it?" Fred asked excitedly, his depression melting away. "Can we can we can we?" Wasabi pushed him a little and shook his head.

"No! It's too dangerous and Hiro hasn't even been able to check it to make sure it really _is_ bulletproof!"

At least he was back to normal. "We aren't taking that risk just yet. Maybe after I've tested it when it's empty," Hiro said, laughing at the interaction. "Maybe we can make a bullet splitter or something for the suit."

Fred looked _very_ disappointed at that but he decided to just leave it as it was. If they tested it when it was empty, he could go through countless bullets and _still_ be alive. Fredzilla would be UNSTOPPABLE! Insert evil laugh here. "Fine," he grumbled. "But I want to be able to be hit by bullets and live to tell the story. Who knows? Maybe you could make an invisible bulletproof suit."

"Ew, no, Fred. That's disgusting." To prove his point, Wasabi wrinkled his nose and pretended to gag.

"No problem. buddy. Though, I'm not sure how possible an invisible bulletproof suit would be," Hiro said. "Well, it's at least more plausible than an invisible sandwich." He picked up a notebook and began jotting something down. "Anyway, let's test mobility. Can you move around fine?"

Fred walked around like it was a normal day and he was in casual clothing. He didn't have pockets, but oh well. "Walking's good," he said. When Hiro wrote something else down he stared lifting his arms and flapped his arms as if he could fly. Then he tried hugging himself. It worked. he was sure he could move normally, he smiled down fondly at the armor. "I like it!" But how were they supposed to... Oh, never mind.

Hiro nodded. "Good, good. How about running?" Fred walked over to an area where the path in front was empty save for the wall at the end but it would do. Then he started running. He felt slower than usual but it was still good. He'd just have to start getting used to it, probably. In any case the suit was fine to him, save for how slow it was when it came to running. Hiro frowned a bit. "Slower speed..." he muttered as he jotted down. "Probably nothing a little training can't fix." He jumped when a loud bang reverberated throughout the lab and Fred suddenly fell as if something hit him. "Fred!" Hiro and Wasabi ran to him. There was a bullet lodged in the torso of the suit.

A few seconds later, Fred suddenly jumped up and shouted with glee, "I'm okay!" Then he laughed and ran around like a maniac. "I just got shot at and I'm not even bleeding! Ha! Take that, world! Fredzilla is alive!" While everyone else was staring at him like he an an idiot (in which he was kind of acting like a crazy guy right about now), Hiro was smirking at that.

Well, at least he was okay, Wasabi thought to himself. Hearing some footsteps, he turned to see GoGo and Honey running toward them. "Did Fred smoke in some fumes or something?" the former asked, watching as the suited man continued scrambling like a maniac.

Hiro only started laughing when Fred came back looking as if nothing had ever happened at all, he was just smiling like an idiot. "Well it's not bullet proof but it is good at protecting us from them," he said. Hiro nodded and pulled Fred back to the lab and told him to take off the armor so he could make adjustments on it.

There was now a semblance of light at the end of this tunnel.


	9. Chapter 9

**RFC: I CALLED SOMEONE ****DING DONG DAMN STUPID. ****AH HA HA HA HA HA ****IT FEELS GREA****T**

**CA: Calm down. We need an AN to make.**

**RFC: But it was fun. XD **

**CA: Tell me the entire story after the AN.**

**RFC: Fine fine.**

**CA: This took forever wrote.**

**RFC: Rephrase. **

**CA: This took forever to write.**

**RFC: Oh, yeah, it did.**

**CA: See? I'm so tired I can't even type right.**

**RFC: It's fine, I'm pretty ding dong damn tired, too.**

**CA: Gotta write chapter 10.**

**RFC: So no Infected?**

**CA: Not yet. Chapter 10 now.**

**RFC: Okay. See ya, guys!**

* * *

><p>"Fred! Get back here! I haven't tested it yet!"<p>

The lab had officially become playground. It was a sight to see, a laughing soldier holding a grey suit being chased by a very young researcher. Such a sight, in fact, that everyone stopped working to watch them and see who would tire out first.

"No way! I'm totally trying this on!"

"It's not ready!" Fred had been way too excited and impatient ever since Hiro had told him that he'd remake it to be better. It was quite obvious that Fred really wanted the armor and that both annoyed and flattered Hiro. Annoyed because he was going to use up most of his day energy on chasing his friend, flattered because that meant someone actually liked his work. He wasn't sure whether to slap Fred once he caught him or thank him for the "support".

Finally, around the second to third minute, Wasabi grabbed Fred's uniform and held him back so that Hiro could catch up and take the suit away, earning a disappointed sound from the soldier.

"You'll get this back later," Hiro promised as he took the suit back to his station. Putting it on a mannequin, he stood aside while GoGo held up a gun towards the armor. "Ready, set, fire!" Some gunshots later, the bullets were strewn uselessly around the suit, with no dent. The mannequin was left undamaged. "Good, good." Hiro jotted down some notes. "Next, we'll test shrapnel."

They brought the mannequin to a explosion-proof chamber, specifically used to test bombs. Setting the mannequin next to a mine, they quickly ran out and locked the chamber after starting the timer. An explosion later, the armor was broken through and Hiro winced at that. If they tried to test it with Fred as the dummy he'd be in serious pain right now, if not dead. That was when Fred laughed and spoke up, "I am so glad Hiro didn't let me try it out first." Way to keep the mood light, man. Wasabi only shook his head at Fred, not smiling nor frowning. He looked more unamused than anything else, really.

"Shrapnel test failed. Back to the drawing board," Hiro commented as he wrote in the observations. "So, yes for bullets, no for shrapnel." He took the suit from the testing chamber. "Maybe we can still use this to test heat resistance. What do you think?"

"Can you make flames stick to the suit? I wanna be a walking flaming death!"

"Shut up, Fred. We're not going to do that," GoGo said, not even casting a glance his way.

_Now_ Fred looked disappointed and Hiro's question was left unanswered for a second. GoGo was checking over the armor, and once she thought about it, she shrugged and spoke once more, "It's broken now but might as well so we could work on two things at once instead of going back and forth. What do you think, Wasabi?"

"Spilled wasabi on my shirt one time..." Wasabi muttered. "Sounds like a good idea, though."

"Does that mean we could walk in a flaming building and _not_ catch on fire and burn to death?" Fred asked, getting excited again.

GoGo rolled her eyes. "Yes, that's the point," she said with a groan. "We'd recommend _not_ walking into a burning building all willy-nilly." She set the suit on a mannequin and reached for a flamethrower. "Let's begin with the wimpy setting."

Heat resistance wasn't as bad as Hiro thought it would be, save for the broken places that allowed the fire to burn through, the armor was doing fine with that. "So yes for heat resistance..." If only Tadashi were here, he thought sadly.

"Correction: yes for wimpy heat resistance. Fires are usually hotter than this," GoGo noted as she set the flames for higher heat. "Let's continue." She proceeded to repeat the process, turning up temperatures each time until the suit was worn out. "There. This should handle flames well."

Along the way, Hiro changed the "heat resistance" to "wimpy heat resistance" just for the heck of it. The armor was dented by the time they were through with it so Hiro sighed and wrote down "Nope" for heat resistance. "Alrighty then," he muttered and was about to go and retrieve the armor but then the realization dawned upon him that he was going to touch something that was put into high temperature and then he mentally slapped himself.

"Let's wait for it to cool down." There were no disagreement.

* * *

><p><strong>~Tadashi's Point~<strong>

There was an announcement for some new bulletproof armor that, at the same time, had little effect on speed. The first prototypes were out for a few soldiers to test in battle and a few researchers would be watching.

Tadashi was one of those soldiers chosen to try one out.

The suits were not unlike bulletproof vests, but they were a bit lighter and strangely stronger. These look like something Hiro could have come up with, Tadashi thought to himself with a chuckle.

Well it's not like he would have known. Tadashi looked at the kids Hiro's age and sighed. If these worked, not as many would die of war anymore. Hopefully that would be the case. Whoever thought up of these was definitely a genius. Even to protect the head they had this thick mask that Tadashi was doubting at first but when he got behind it he found that he could see clearly.

Was it already time to go?

"These suits had been proven to protect you well from bullets! One of our reckless soldiers found out the hard way. Well, maybe not so hard, as he had survived. Today, we shall hopefully make some progress. Let's get a move on, men!"

After they put on the suits, they were sent off to the battlefield. At some point, a few of the suited soldiers were supposed to run across the field to get a good strike on the enemy.

Tadashi was the first to go.

He wasn't excited about having to shoot another person, not now. He mostly just looked around and scanned the area for any children. He was completely useless, never making a real successful shot until a kid was killed. That's how it was for him.

Tadashi lifted his gun and locked it on to an enemy. I've killed so many of them already, he thought. Why is this so hard? Was it because he only shot them when he raged?

An explosion and a scream of agony caught his attention and he turned to see—Hiro?! What was he doing here?! Instantly, Tadashi ran towards him, his legs moving even faster when he realized Hiro had no helmet to protect his exposed head and he couldn't move his legs. As a barrage of bullets headed to the boy, the elder Hamada managed to make it in time to shield him and take the majority of the ammo.

The pain was excruciating, but not deadly. The bullets didn't even linger long, but they left Tadashi panting for breath and trying to soothe his sore throat. His next move was to scoop Hiro up and sprint back towards the base so he could get medical attention. Those legs weren't going to heal themselves.

"Th-thank you." The voice was unfamiliar. Finally getting a good look at the kid, Tadashi saw yet again that he wasn't really Hiro. This boy's hair was too short and his eyes were a lighter shade of brown. This was just another stranger, but Tadashi didn't mind. Perhaps this boy had a family, even a brother, who would appreciate seeing him again.

Making it to the infirmary, Tadashi paid no attention to the doctors, he only set the boy down on an empty cot and quickly left, knowing it wasn't his time to go back. He wanted to go back but he couldn't fall back, not now. The fight had only begun for him and he had a very long way to go. So he started running, running, running back to the battlefield, back to where he was supposed to be and soon his mind was blank and he began to shoot at the enemy like they were nothing.

Tadashi knew this was wrong, he knew that he shouldn't be killing but the realization had hit him with full force, they didn't care that they were killing children and soon he stopped caring about their lives. He didn't care that they had family anymore. They were adults and they were killing children. As that mindset sank in, he was walking closer to them, shooting every single one that came after him and the armor was doing just fine for him, even if it hurt, it went as quick as it came.

Tadashi was mindful about the landmines, knowing very well that they hadn't mentioned anything about the armor being protective about those and having seen that kid, he knew that he wouldn't make it if he did.

The enemy quickly retreated, fearing the soldiers in strange suits. Some of those stubborn were quickly finished off and soon there was nothing left aside from bodies and crap on in the enemy's trench.

The stalemate was over.

With the surviving soldiers, Tadashi made it back to the base. Many of his comrades were jumping on the confused boys who had stayed behind, cheering and crying and bragging about the escapades. Tadashi, on the other hand, simply continued to the base, though he happened to see the researchers jotting notes and chatting happily amongst themselves.

One of them looked like Hiro.

Knowing that he had been hallucinating a lot lately, Tadashi thought nothing of it and just kept moving on, though he was tempted to see if it really was Hiro, he probably knew he shouldn't make any contact with the researchers.

"Dude, you were awesome! The way you protected that kid from the shots was just like Mama Bear!" Tadashi turned to see another soldier he could not recognize.

"Who the hell gets the nickname Mama Bear?"

"Someone who acts like a mama bear, of course," said the soldier as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's some weird name that just stuck."

"Why?" Tadashi asked, temporarily forgetting that Abigail once called him Mama Hamada. "Like, how does this person even act that actually gets the name to stick?" The soldier only shrugged.

"Well, he goes nuts every time a kid dies. Never mess with kids when he's around." The soldier's voice was vaguely familiar, but was too raspy to really put an identity to. Seems this guy had some sore or dry throat.

"Oh," Tadashi realized that sounded strangely like him. "So like me?" The soldier looked like he was going to jump out of his skin and Tadashi raised a brow at that.

"You're Mama Bear?" Tadashi would have raised his brow higher if he could but he only blinked and sighed.

"You people and your nicknames..." he muttered. He wasn't going to mention his college friends because what was the point of explaining?

The soldier was practically jumping like some fanboy. Probably like Fred. "This is so cool! Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," he said as he took off his mask, leaving Tadashi wide-eyed. "The name's Fred. Soldier by day, and at night, I'm also a soldier."

When Tadashi finally let that sink in, he smiled slightly and removed his mask, shaking Fred's hand. "Tadashi," was all he really said in reply. He was sure he was going to laugh out loud when Fred stared at him for a second almost as if he were trying to pinpoint where he'd heard that name before. And then he stopped walking altogether.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! _Tadashi_ _Hamada_? Dude! Everyone's here now!" Fred was a bit too loud for his own good, but his excitement was clear. "The whole gang is together once again! Fred's Angels, whoo!"

"Oh, the others are here as well? How are they?" Tadashi missed his friends, no lie, so knowing that Wasabi, GoGo, and Honey Lemon were here made things better for him. "Are they doing well? Is Wasabi still a clean freak?"

"Same old, same old, mostly," Fred answered with a wave of a hand. "Wasabi's still freaking out over tidiness, Honey is still excitable about chemical mixtures and still refuses to turn me into a kaiju, GoGo's still speeding everything up, and Hiro's still being Hiro. All is well."

Tadashi nodded and then turned his head until he stopped in his tracks. "Wait. What did you say?" Fred looked confused for a second and he repeated his second to last statement.

"Same old—"

"No, the other one."

"Oh, Wasabi's still—"

"The. Last. Part." Tadashi was hoping he heard wrong but Fred confirmed that he had said what Tadashi thought he heard.

"Hiro's still being Hiro."


	10. Chapter 10

**We're gonna skip the AN. CA is stressed out with homework so have fun... **

**Quick message: I know this is a lot, but don't skim. Sometimes you go over the important things and soon you'll be wondering what the hell is even going on. If you're skimming, that just proves to us that you really don't give two shits about the hard work we're putting into this. We're working hard to entertain you guys and if you _still_ have questions about the story, my only answer is to reread it _all. _  
><strong>

**Another Message: No hating on _any_ of our stories. I'm serious. If I see a fucking hate message, let's just say you might recognize a certain username in one of our stories and let me just tell you right now, if it's yours, you aren't the protagonist. If you're a guest, I'm dropping _heavy hints _as to who you are.**

**Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.**

* * *

><p>"When was this?" Tadashi asked. His voice was calm, too calm. Fred was beginning to get worried that the wrong words would make him snap and as chill as Tadashi was, you really don't want him to snap, especially after finding out he's Mama Bear. If he freaks out when kids are killed, his psycho meter is going to go off the charts now that he knows that Hiro's so close to the battlefield.<p>

"A-a couple of weeks ago, maybe even before you came here," Fred said, backing away just a little when Tadashi's expression darkened. "He's alright, I promise! The others are taking good care of him, I'm sure of it! I mean he was totally fine when I visited..." Tadashi's mood didn't lighten at all, if anything, he only got angrier.

"I'm going to slaughter every last one of them that kidnapped my baby brother," he growled. "I'll cut them open and watch them try to hold in their intestines. I'll make them bleed!" Fred flinched at that and his eyes widened. Had Tadashi changed that much? "Once this war if over I'll beat their fu—"

"Tadashi—"

"—ing faces in and let them get run over several times by oncoming trucks. They'll be _begging_ for death!" The thought of meeting Mama Bear was pretty cool at first but actually seeing the oncoming rage was frightening. Fred wasn't sure whether to try and calm him down or just let him rage. There were two things you don't do: the first one was not to mess with Mama Bear's cub; the second one was not to try to restrain Mama Bear when he's pissed. You'll only piss him off more.

"Tadashi, calm down. I promise he's doing just fine." The other soldiers noticed the raging mood Mama Bear was in and gave him some space, knowing full well that he'd break some bones if they tried to keep him down. "Uh... Remember when we told him the story of how Wasabi got his nickname?" Tadashi didn't say anything but he did nod. "Well, Hiro, being the evil little cub he is, decided it would be fun to smear that stuff all over Wasabi's face while he was asleep. I think the entire lab woke up to a _very_ angry Wasabi."

Tadashi had to smile slightly at that, even if he still had that cold, murderous look in his eyes. Looks like the funny stories were working, as Fred expected. Funny stories always did calm Tadashi down. He decided to tell more.

At dinner time, Tadashi and Fred hardly ate anything. Instead, they were catching up on the past couple of weeks.

"Then suddenly, something went _BANG!_ and my side was hurting so bad that I fell, but I had no bullet in me. The suit was a success!" Fred retold the tale of the first suit prototype that Hiro had come up with, putting a smile on Tadashi's face as he learned his brother was doing well. "It was awesome! You should have seen it, dude!"

Had it been the first time his peers had actually seen him smile? Tadashi was laughing at how light Fred took being shot at. Anyone would have freaked out but here he was, Fred getting all excited over having a bullet almost hitting him. "So how does it feel knowing that you can finally wear a bulletproof suit? Are you going to run around the battlefield shouting with joy?"

"Psh, no. I'd be shouting for joy if there was an invisible invincibility suit." Shooting a naked guy but he won't die, Tadashi remembered joking about that to Hiro when he was still in the hospital.

"I'm not sure how scientific that is," Tadashi commented with a chuckle. "At least it's more useful than an invisible sandwich."

"Hey, an invisible sandwich is cool!"

"But a useless invention."

"Okay, you got me there."

While the two chatted away, Tadashi found that he missed his baby brother more than he actually thought. It came with the whole, "oh-shit-I'm-at-war" feeling. "I thought soldiers couldn't interact with the scientists," he said, finally. "Why do you get to see them?"

Fred smirked. "You forget who my dad is. Even out here, I still have some perks," he explained, leaning his chair back, only to fall. He was quick to recover, though. "I'll see if I can arrange visitor rights for you. Then you can see Hiro all you want. Well, maybe not _all_ you want, but at least when we're not fighting. He really misses you, you know."

Tadashi didn't want to use Fred as a way to be allowed to see Hiro, though. As much as he loved his little brother as as much as he missed him, it didn't feel right.

"I dunno, man. I miss Hiro a lot but using you to be allowed to visit him? I don't like the sound of that."

"Pfft! Here's one thing even I know: you never get between a mother bear and her cubs."

* * *

><p>When Fred pulled Tadashi into the defense lab, the older Hamada only studied all the other experiments. He completely forgot that Fred was trying to surprise Hiro.<p>

"Huh, check it out," he said, looking around. "This place is cool." It wasn't the tech lab at home, but it was okay, he supposed. He liked his old lab more.

"Watch out!" Tadashi stopped in his tracks and then instinctively looked down. There was some yellow tape on the ground. He only knew one person who would yell at anyone for stepping beyond the line. "Keep behind the line! You don't want to—Tadashi? Well, looks like the entire team's here now! How's it going?" Yep, it was Wasabi.

"Oh, I'm just peachy. And, uh, how're you and your one true line doing?" Tadashi smirked. "Still putting that caution tape first, huh?" Wasabi gave Tadashi a look and then he revealed something similar to his old project.

"That's _so_ funny, Tadashi," he replied, rolling his eyes. "What about you and your beloved hat?"

"I had no choice but to leave my beloved behind," Tadashi said, putting a hand over his chest and smiling like an idiot. "And at least I'm faithful to my hat. What about you and your ex-girlfriend?"

"Wasabi wasn't my girlfriend! She forced herself onto my shirt!"

"Well maybe she wouldn't have done that if you didn't try to _eat_ her!"

Suddenly, an excited squeal forced Tadashi to attempt to cover his ears, but his arms were suddenly trapped to his torso by another pair of arms. "Tadashiiii! You're here, I can't believe it!" Honey Lemon's voice reverberated inside his ear and the soldier made a note to get them checked when the war was over. "Hiro's gonna be so happyyyy!"

"Honey Lemon, I'm going to go deaf if you keep squealing like that," Tadashi wheezed, the air was forced out when he was pulled into a bone-crushing hug. "Honey Lemon, please, you're killing me!" When she finally let go, Tadashi fell on his back and he was gasping for air. God, that woman needed to keep her strength in check!

"Stop whining and woman up." Tadashi looked up to see GoGo and not a moment later he found himself being thrown here and there, from Honey Lemon pulling him up and then shoving him over to where GoGo was to give her a hug. Once he regained his balance, he was standing in the center of the circle and he was laughing breathlessly.

"God, I missed you guys so much." Honey Lemon eagerly brought them all into a group hug, forgetting one very important 14-year-old boy.

"Guys? What's going on over there?" Hiro's, much smaller, voice spoke up. "Who's that you're hugging?"

Tadashi held his breath and everyone else stepped back, like curtains parting to reveal a prize. Finally, he could see his brother, Hiro, staring back just as shocked. Seeing him in that researcher's coat, Tadashi's mind immediately screamed joyfully that the researcher he thought was a Hiro clone had actually been his brother, no hallucinations. This was him, not a stranger momentarily wearing his face.

"Tadashi?" No unfamiliar voice!

Within moments. Tadashi rushed to Hiro and embraced him, tempted to sob at how real this moment felt. Not a stranger, not a stranger, he chanted in his head. Hiro is here, safe!

Hiro stood there, confused, but he hugged him back and sighed. Tadashi was still warm. Tadashi was here. "Nii-chan, we tried," he said. "Didn't work but at least I'm not on the battlefield, right?" Tadashi didn't answer, he was too busy trying to confirm that this wasn't a dream, that Hiro was actually here, alive and breathing. "... Dashi?"

"You're okay, you're alive, you're right here..." There were so many things Tadashi said to Hiro, disappearing as quick as they came and it was hard not to cry. How many lives could have been lost on that field, how many loved ones were lost and yet Hiro was still lucky enough to have his brother here, alive and breathing? Just like he was, how lucky was he?

"I missed you, Nii-chan."

Tadashi patted Hiro's back. "I missed you too, Otouto," he replied before pulling away a bit to look straight into his brother's eyes, hands still on his shoulders. "What happened back at the airport? I thought you managed to get away."

Hiro smiled sadly, recalling that horrible day. The day they'd been waiting just far enough away from the gates... "After I turned and you were out of sight, they were there. I activated Baymax then, he kept them from getting to me for a couple of minutes..." He couldn't keep his smile up for long, in the end it fell and he looked back to his brother for comfort. "Long-story-short, they're persistent bastards and I screamed for help, I screamed for you, but you didn't come back."

Hiro really didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it and Tadashi felt so guilty. He heard that scream, he knew he heard it but he ignored it completely and kept walking. Maybe if he didn't, he would have been able to prevent this from happening.

Then he remembered, if Hiro didn't come here, the suits wouldn't have been made and if they hadn't been made, more kids would have died. In a way, it was a good thing but it still made Tadashi's blood boil, that the cops would put Hiro through something like that. He wanted to slaughter them but the feeling was soon pushed aside when Fred finally spoke up.

"You should have seen Mama Bear, man, he freaked out when I told him that you were here. He started talking about how he'd slaughter the police that brought you and it took a lot of stupid jokes and reports on how you were just to calm him down... Oh, by the way, I found Mama Bear!"

GoGo chuckled and leaned an arm against Tadashi. "Why am I not surprised?" she commented. "You're a fearful creature when upset enough. There was only one person we know who can be worthy of the "Mama Bear" title."

"Somehow, knowing that you're the Mama Bear soldier Fred keeps talking about, your protectiveness has become more adorable and frightening," said Honey, keeping her cheerfulness yet with a bit of nervousness. She decided to change to subject, somewhat. "Anyway, now the bear and cub have finally been reunited, we should celebrate! Who's up for cake?"

"Did you really get recruited from an asylum or was that just some stupid rumor?" Wasabi asked fearfully. "Because if one of my friends was in an asylum, that's just scary!" Tadashi hugged Hiro again and then looked up at Wasabi, giving him a mock-evil look.

"Oh I came form an asylum, sure. Just let me get my knife and I'll show you how crazy I get when angry." Wasabi only squeaked and hid behind GoGo seeing as to how Tadashi wouldn't ever hit her, not because she was a girl but because she hits like a man. Hiro didn't realize he actually missed Tadashi this much until he was actually reunited with him.

"I think cake sounds awesome," Hiro spoke up. "I mean—"

"Yeah, but then the cake is a lie," Fred said, pretending to growl.

Honey put a hand on her heart as if wounded. "Fred, is that how you thought about all my cakes?" she questioned in a mock-hurt tone. She then turned away from him, nose in the air. "Well, I guess I'm not giving you a slice. You'll get the boring potatoes and bread."

"Honeeeyyyy I was jokiiinnng," Fred whined. "Your cakes aren't lies. The others however..." He didn't finish his sentence then, he only pretended to growl again. "Your cakes are the only true cakes, I promise." Well this was ridiculous. Tadashi pulled away from the hug and looked Hiro in the eyes once more, noting that he looked concerned.

"What's wrong, otouto? You look troubled."

Hiro hadn't noticed, but he supposed he knew why. "I'm worried, Tadashi. It's dangerous out on the battlefield," he said, staring at the ground. "I know I've been making these protective armors, but what if something happens and you don't come back? I don't want to lose you."

Tadashi smiled a little. "You don't have to worry about that. I promised I'll always be there for you, so I will." But he hadn't been there at the airport, he reminded himself, and his smile disappeared. "A-Anyway, I'll always come back to you. You know I will. I'm right here right now, aren't I?"

Hiro nodded slowly, only believing that Tadashi was just saying this to make him feel better. Even so, it was a good try and it did help out, only a little. He knew that Tadashi wasn't at the airport, he knew that but it wasn't really his fault, not in Hiro's eyes. If Tadashi really didn't care about him, he wouldn't be here right now, trying to make him feel better. So the airport incident didn't matter much anymore.

"Yeah... But what if you can't avoid it? You told me countless times that it was dangerous out there so why are you here?"

"I promised you everything will be back to normal once this is all over, right?" Tadashi said, avoiding the second question, as he had no answer for it. "Don't worry so much about me. I'll be fine. The armor you came up with is pretty effective."

As much as that was true, Hiro was still doubtful about it. Everyone else had been chattering or arguing about how the cake should look and Fred was going over the top with all the whole people on fire candles. GoGo thought even _that_ was way too violent, especially since the heat resistance on the suits hadn't been worked out as well, it would only worry Hiro more. Plus that was pretty insensitive, especially when Tadashi _just_ recovered from a burning.

Tadashi said nothing, but anyone could tell that his irritation was plain as day. Well, anyone but Fred, but what can any of the others expect?

In the meantime, Honey Lemon was listening to all the suggestions (except for the people on fire candles) and began to wonder if it may be too much to make a cake that mixed together everyone's ideas.

Hiro was still looking down at the ground so Tadashi did the one thing he hadn't done since they separated at the airport. He started tickling him. Here and there, getting the most sensitive spots and he started laughing when Hiro began to squeal. "Aww, little otouto is finally smiling!" Tadash laughed.

Honey Lemon snapped a photo of it and started squealing herself. "This is so cute!"

"N-no! Get rid of-f the photo!" Hiro demanded between giggles. He attempted to rush over to Honey, but Tadashi held him in place. "Let go! S-s-someone will see u-us!" He could hear everyone else laughing around him and his face turned red in embarrassment. He was soooo gonna get Tadashi back for this.

The tickle torture ended after a minute or so and the atmosphere around them was lighter. The fourteen-year-old researcher was left panting on the ground while everyone else smirked at him. Oh, the woes of being the only kid here.

"I'm so tempted to call them the Hamada cubs now," Fred said when no one else spoke. "I'm not sure if it was me but that was the most adorable moment I've ever seen those two have and there were a lot of adorable moments they had." Everyone else nodded in agreement which left Hiro to pout, still on the ground. Tadashi stood up and grabbed him from under the arms to pull him to his feet.

"So, otouto, are you gonna stop being so negative or do I have to suffocate you with another round of torture?" Tadashi asked. Hiro only crossed his arms and puffed up his cheeks, giving Tadashi the chance to squeeze them and there went the "pllp."

"I'm not getting rid of that picture," Honey Lemon said and locked her phone so that Hiro couldn't get to it. "I can use it as blackmail!" Sometimes they all forgot how evil she could be...

It was always the nice ones you had to watch out for, Hiro thought bitterly. "Why're you all ganging up on me? No fair..." he complained, though he had to admit he probably needed some cheering up.

"You six! Stop messing around and get back to work!" someone yelled, causing them all to jump. Right, the lab wasn't a playground.

Tadashi only sent a cold glare toward the owner of that voice. He didn't have to ruin that moment. "Well sounds like someone's on their period..." Even if the person was a _very_ _demanding_ male, he had to say it. "Have fun at work, baby brother. We should get going now." Fred gave everyone one last hug before pulling Tadashi out of the defense lab.

"... Hey, where's Baymax?" Tadashi asked. "I haven't seen him at all and I thought he was with Hiro, last time I checked."

"Your marshmallow bot? He's in the infirmary taking care of the wounded," Fred explained. "I heard he's been great at detecting allergies, though his manners may need a bit of work. I heard he insulted a sergeant by calling him obese."

Well Baymax would always be Baymax no matter what, Tadashi supposed. It wasn't like he was really going to change the robot's program anytime soon, plus it sounded hilarious that he'd actually insulted a sergeant and was still active right now. How many times had the robot deactivated? Wait, how was he even charging?

"Last I checked, Baymax's luggage needed an outlet," Tadashi pointed out. "The infirmary is in the middle of nowhere, not even near any buildings, no electricity whatsoever, so how is the guy still alive?" Fred shrugged and he seemed to rack his brain to remember what Hiro said before.

"The little cub made a new battery for him, I think. I don't remember how he charges, though, so you may want to ask him about it the next time we visit them." That was only if they /could/ visit them. Tadashi knew very well that he may be too busy with the whole war thing that he wouldn't be able to visit Hiro all that much. As much as he wanted to, just to make sure he would be alright, Tadashi left it alone and focused on his current job; fighting the war.

"That's only if I remember to ask him," Tadashi replied. "Which I'm pretty sure I'll forget."

"Awww. Is it because you want to spend quality time with your _little_ _baby otouto_?"

"Well if you're gonna be a creep about it..."

"Why is it creepy when I say it?" Fred complained, getting a bit frustrated when he didn't get any answer. "Don't ignore me, Hamama!"

"Okay, now you're just trying too hard."

The two continued to bicker, with Fred corrupting Tadashi's already ridiculous nickname and Tadashi attempting to ignore him yet not being able to help himself from pointing out that Fred was weirder than he usually was, probably.

Tadashi's more social attitude scared most of the soldiers half to death.


	11. Chapter 11

**CA: Sorry for the long delay in updating! I had finals and Ryan was still recovering from writing the long _Infected_ chapter, so...**

**RFC: Mehehehhhhhhhh**

**CA: In a few days, we should be on a writing spree, I hope! So, look forward to more _Art of War_, _Infected_, and even _Hide_ _and Seek_!**

**RFC: MEEEEEEEHHHHEHHHHHHHHH**

**CA: Oh hush, you recovered long enough. I'll write most of the stuff, if you'd like.**

**RFC: Whatchu talkin bout? While we had free time, we just talked about Infected _again_.**

**CA: We'll talk more about Art of War and Hide and Seek. So, this chapter is just another filler for Art of War. We're getting ready for a _big_ surprise later on.**

**RFC: We are?**

**CA: Don't you remember?**

**RFC: Remember what?**

**CA: You're not making me tell you. We're keeping this from our readers, after all. By the way, are you enjoying your Baymax plush?**

**RFC: I love him so much.**

**CA: Ryan's so happy.**

**RFC: BAYMAX PLUSH MAKES RYAN SO HAPPY!**

**CA: Anyway, while Ryan spazzes out, we'll just get on with the story.**

* * *

><p>"You seem happier these days, Mama Bear."<p>

"Could you stop calling me that?"

Once again, after a long day of at the front, Tadashi had ended up in the cafeteria where he planned to just eat dinner and then follow Fred to the lab. Seems his plans will have to be delayed now that his army buddy showed up.

The buddy in question chuckled at his discomfort. "Maybe, but not for a while," she said. "So, it looks like we're finally making some progress. Do you think that means the war will end soon?"

Tadashi didn't know the answer to that so he just shrugged. "Probably. That's only if the new armor works out fine. We still need to test it on the shrapnel and the heat resistance isn't the best either."

Abigail smirked. "Mama Bear has been visiting the lab." Oh, right. Soldiers weren't allowed to interact with the scientists.

Shrugging, Tadashi took a swig of some water. He wasn't going to deny that. "I have connections," he said jokingly. "Not like I go in there without purpose, anyways." He glanced around, wondering when Fred was going to show up. He'd normally be here by now.

"Aye, Mama Bear, stop flirting," Fred cut in, jumping on Tadashi's back. He smirked when Tadashi glared back at him and Abigail snorted. "We're going to visit your brother. Bros before—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Abigail warned and Fred shut up. A momentary glare and then her attention was on Tadashi again. "So, leaving already?"

"You heard him. My little brother is waiting," the dark-haired soldier confirmed, smiling fondly. "I did promise to see him as much as possible, after all." He didn't get to say anymore, as Fred practically dragged him away as if impatient. Apparently, Hiro managed to develop a better suit.

* * *

><p>"Dammit, Fred, not again!" By now, it had become a regular occurrence: Hiro finishes a suit, Fred gets excited and steals it, and then Hiro proceeds to chase him until Wasabi decides they've had enough fun and stops Fred. And Tadashi was the jerk who decided to watch, amused, as his little brother tired himself out trying to chase the goofball around.<p>

"You should join track," Tadashi said after everyone else had walked off to their own stations, earning a glare from Hiro. "What? I'm just saying. Might also help that gummy bear problem of yours."

Hiro rolled his eyes and sighed irritably. "You know, I thought you'd be the loving older brother that you are and just help me out, but I guess I was wrong. You're a jerk, you know."

Instead of denying, Tadashi smiled at him, inciting a pout from the young teen. "I know I am." Without warning, he pulled Hiro towards him with one arm, trapping him while his free hand formed a fist and gave his little brother a noogie.

Hiro made weak attempts to push his older brother away, but because the jerk was so much stronger than he was, it was nearly impossible. So, while Tadashi looked like he was having fun messing around, he had a scowl on his face. "Let go already!" he finally said after a while. "I need to test this out on shrapnel."

Making up his mind and deciding that he didn't want to miss this, Tadashi let go of Hiro and followed him to the testing area. They put the newly made armor on a mannequin, placed it next to a mine already set on the ground.

"Shrapnel: first test," Hiro wrote on his clipboard before opening a compartment inside the wall. Taking note of Tadashi's concerned expression, he shrugged. "Yeah, they should really fix the placement of this thing." Start the timer. "Run!" Within seconds, the chamber was empty of humans and sealed before the explosion. When the smoke cleared, the mannequin was left mostly undamaged.

"That's amazing," Tadashi commented, smiling at Hiro's proud expression. "You put some serious work on this thing, huh?" The young Hamada nodded excitedly and eagerly rushed inside the chamber to retrieve the armor. Once he'd come back out with it, He handed it to Tadashi to inspect.

"It's pretty cool, right?" he asked while his brother looked it over. "You won't have to worry so much about the bombs now! Well, don't step on them willy-nilly, but you know what I mean!" He became concerned, however, when Tadashi frowned. "What's wrong?"

Handing the suit back to the researcher, the soldier looked at him blankly. "What about someone who steps on the bomb? So far, we know this suit can protect someone next to one, but not necessarily on." The smile was wiped straight off Hiro's face.

With a sigh, though maybe not so exasperated, Hiro made his way back to the bomb chamber. "I'll test it out right now." Resuiting the mannequin and positioning it on top of a newly placed mine, Hiro activated the timer again and rushed out. Another explosion and then the mannequin was nowhere to be found. Both brothers cringed. "Okay, do not step on the mines."

At least they were making progress, but if that had been sent out... holy crap. "I think I got that message before you said it," Tadashi said, his face going back to his expression from before. "So, are you doing alright here?" It was a question he asked just about every time he came to visit and it almost annoyed Hiro that he cared more about him than he did himself.

"You should be more worried about yourself. You're the one on the battlefield." Though he knew deep down that Tadashi wasn't going to let go of it, he wanted to start making him worry about himself for once. It wasn't fair that Hiro he had to be the one being coddled even when he was safe.

"But you're the underaged one in here."

Hiro only rolled his eyes at that. Of course his age had to be brought up. That was the best argument he had against him. "Don't you have a better argument?" he asked, though he couldn't stop smiling.

"Yes," Tadashi said, smirking at Hiro's new expression. "You're tiny as hell."

"Hey! I'm still growing!"

"From side to side, if you keep eating so many gummy bears."

Pouting, Hiro crossed his arms and muttered a word under his breath and turned away, acting as though he were offended. "You're horrible."

Tadashi's smirk only grew. "I'm your brother." There wasn't much else to say after that.

Deciding to quit the bickering and check out the damage in the chamber, Hiro opened the door and found the mannequin at one of the blind spots of the place, not blown to smithereens as he had thought. "No way..."

Curious, Tadashi walked inside the chamber afterward and poked Hiro's cheek. "You look like you've seen someone's hanging corpse. You trying to process something? It's a strange look on you."

"It works!"

"What?"

"It works! It works!" Hiro was practically bouncing with excitement and hurried over to the mannequin. "Oh, this is amazing! I still don't recommend stepping on mines, but who cares?!" He did a small victory dance that had Tadashi chuckling and anyone else watching wondering what had just happened.

Speaking of which, feeling eyes on them, the elder Hamada looked behind him and saw a couple of researchers observing them heavily. They quickly looked away when they met eyes with Tadashi, but that only made them look even more strange. How long has this been happening?

He seemed so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he completely tuned out Hiro's excited babbling. Researchers don't randomly stare at other researchers now, do they? So what were those guys doing, staring at Hiro? Why did they look suspicious?

"Tadashi? Tadashi, what's wrong?" Hiro asked, tugging at the soldier's sleeve. Tadashi didn't answer him, he only narrowed his eyes in warning at the men who were looking their way and soon they all separated and disappeared. "Nii—" at that point, Tadashi tuned him out again.

Something just wasn't right.

"Tadashi." There was no answer. He just looked so concentrated on something else that it almost scared everyone. "Tadashi." Finally, he felt a hard punch on his shoulder. Startled, he flinched and bumped into a larger figure he recognized as Wasabi.

The dark-skinned researcher was looking concerned at Tadashi. "You alright, man? You seem distracted." Seem? Perhaps he was distracted.

"You didn't see them?" the soldier asked. Well, they were gone now, but wasn't the odd behavior obvious? He would have expected more people to have noticed. "Never mind. It's probably nothing." Lies. He couldn't help thinking that something was going to go horribly wrong. But what?

There was that hard punch again and Tadashi had to see who did it. GoGo was there, arms crossed and eying him suspiciously. "It's not nothing when you're distracted. What's up?" she questioned. Tadashi only had to shrug at the question. He didn't even know what was "up."

Instead of pushing it, almost everyone let it go. Almost. Hiro was still a little worried about how Tadashi was acting. He wasn't sure whether he should push his buttons to get him to talk or not.

"Tadashi—"

"In that case, since you two were at the testing chambers, there's something we need to tell you guys." Honey Lemon said solemnly. When she was sure that she had their attention, she took a deep breath. "One of our scientists, Dr. Poisson, has gone missing. He was supposed to head home on leave, but his wife called and told us he never made it. We think something's going wrong, so we should all be careful." She glanced at Hiro for a moment and it seemed everyone else got the message.

Hiro furrowed his brows. "Are you telling me someone might be abducting researchers?" There were only nods or shrugs. He was going to say something more, but Tadashi pulled him close and got him to shut up.

"Then you all know what to do. Make sure none of you go anywhere alone," instructed the elder Hamada while the rest nodded. "Has there been suspicious behavior lately? Anyone standing around for longer than usual?" The odd researchers came to mind. "Well... I think I've noticed some odd behavior, but I'm not sure if it's just from my lack of sleep. Still, it concerns one of us." Everyone became alert. If it concerned one of their friends, that would be a problem to them all.

"Wait, who's the one in danger?" Hiro asked, looking up to his brother. When Tadashi didn't answer, it should have been pretty clear. The person who wasn't safe should have been pointed out by now, but he didn't know. Everyone else seemed to understand, judging by the looks on their faces, but Hiro didn't get it. Fred, for once, wasn't smiling, Honey Lemon's expression showed clear concern, GoGo looked uncomfortable, and Wasabi looked just plain scared.

"Tadashi—" Honey tried, but she was cut off with the man addressed.

"Just keep each other safe," Tadashi stated firmly. At this serious time, Fred looked like he was tempted to crack a joke or say something light to lift their spirits, but nothing was said. No one had to say anything.

* * *

><p>"Seriously, who was Tadashi talking about?" Hiro had been asking this question over and over again, but no one would answer him. They mostly whispered among themselves. This began to frustrate him, for it seemed unfair that everyone else got to know except him. That was irritating.<p>

Noticing this, Honey Lemon offered a weak smile as she tried to explain. "It's not that we don't trust you, we do! It's just that Tadashi didn't want us to tell you, and you know how he can get when we don't listen. Plus, it would only worry you."

"He was talking about me, wasn't he?" Hiro asked, finally getting the hint. "I'm not stupid, you know." He would have liked to say that he could take care of himself, but he couldn't even get away from the cops back then. What if he really was targeted? "Just... He doesn't have to worry about me." They all stopped for a moment.

"Hiro, you know your brother," GoGo began to explain, "he just wants to keep you safe. People going missing like this is a pretty big deal. I really don't blame him for worrying. We're worried, too." Her tough demeanor hadn't returned yet and it was a bit unsettling. Then again, it only made sense that no one is acting as he or she usually would during this time.

"Still. We all have each other, right? Plus, they could take another researcher in this lab, it doesn't have to be me." Everyone looked even more concerned at that. It seemed that they were overestimating him. "What?" No one dared utter a word for a whole minute until Wasabi finally decided to speak.

"Well, you're the smartest person here. I mean, last I checked, no one really thought about making the armor until you came along. Well, they did, but no one could really make something so successful, so no one put much time into it. You thought out of the box, we were all just focusing on making better weapons," he explained, looking around occasionally to make sure they were alone. "I doubt they'd really let you go if they were here long."

Unbelievable. "I'm sure they'd be more interested in better weapons," Hiro tried to rebut. "I mean, I'm only making protective gear. You've got speed, lasers, chemical compounds! I just made protective suits."

"We're still refining our projects. You made a lot of progress in the months you were here," GoGo pointed out. "Time is precious and we're trying to end this war as soon as possible. The fact that you didn't need much time to refine the armor says a lot about your usefulness. Since you're young and mostly unable to defend yourself, you are quite an ideal target." Wasabi and Honey nodded in agreement.

Unbelievable! "'Mostly unable to defend myself'. Wow. Okay then." The more he talked about this, the more he began to get frustrated and, frankly, a bit angry. But pushing those thoughts aside, he decided not to waste any more time and he decided that now would be a great time to go back to his work, walking away from them without even finishing the discussion.

I can defend myself, he thought irritably as he returned to his station. Though sometimes he argued with himself, he knew that he could take care of himself for the most part. It was just easy to surprise him, that's all.

After some time, he found that he could not concentrate. He needed to write that report, too. The necessary tests were already finished and he needed to let the authorities know this. Well, maybe a few more trials could be used to ensure the suit really did work. Maybe he could put off the report for a while.

For now, he would take a break and check on everyone else. After securing his notes and ensuring everything was locked and/or encrypted, he left his station and headed to Wasabi's. The man was working on his laser cutters, positioning them over his hand and shaking his head as if disappointed with them.

"So what's got you so bummed?" Hiro asked, startling the man. Wasabi had immediately pulled his hands back and looked back to see Hiro looking curiously at him. Huffing, he moved around from his lasers and was just about to give Hiro a lecture. And that's what he did.

"You aren't supposed to sneak up on someone and scare them like that!" Wasabi exclaimed. "What if the safety mechanism didn't work? What if my hands got severely injured?" He began ranting on and on about how safety was important and all. To be completely honest, he lost Hiro at 'safety mechanism'. Upon realizing that the younger researcher wasn't listening, Wasabi sighed in frustration. "So, what brings you here?"

Hiro blinked and his focus returned. "I'm taking a break from my work. The first trials are done, so I think I can afford a little time off," he said rather cheerily. "So, what was that about a safety mechanism?" He would try to be attentive this time. Soon after Wasabi began explaining, he found that he had been zoning off again and only a chuckle brought him back to reality. "So I find that I suck at listening to people giving me lectures…" Wasabi nodded in agreement and he turned back to his work.

"So I can see," he replied, smiling at his own project. "So what were the tests that you had been working on?" Wasabi, for one, wasn't the type to zone out on someone, so Hiro supposed it would be alright.

Sheepishly, the young researcher had to take some time to remember some of the tests. "Well, they're the same as always, you know: fire resistance, shrapnel protection, bulletproof, and the like. I just need to run a few more trials before I test mobility. Same old, same old." He was sure Fred would be a very enthusiastic volunteer for this. "Uh… Did you decide on what to use the lasers for?"

Wasabi gestured towards his work. "I intend for these to simply cut debris," he explained in a half-announcing manner. "Of course, there might be people or animals under the debris that may be alive, so I'm trying to work on a safety mechanism." He paused to see if Hiro was still paying attention. Looks like he was, for once. "What it does is that it shuts off the lasers when it detects flesh under the debris. That way, we don't accidentally cut someone while digging."

Hiro nodded, now interested in the whole topic. "That's a great idea," he said thoughtfully. "It's going to help a lot of people." Wasabi had to keep in a chuckle. That sounded so similar to what Tadashi would say.

There was a horrible screeching outside and a string of curses. Curious, Hiro made a quick "Bye!" to Wasabi and investigated the noise, finding GoGo muttering about some wreckage. In front of her was a tank that had scratched the road it was on. Well, more like annihilated it. In addition to that, the tank had hit a wall and was smoking.

"Too heavy!" she complained. "Too much resistance! Back to the drawing board." It was then that she noticed the youngest scientist. "Oh, Hiro, you look like you've cooled down." She ruffled his hair a bit, much to his dismay.

"I'm fine," he muttered fixing his own hair to make it feel comfortable. "So what're you up to? And… did you break a tank?" GoGo looked over to the wreckage and then back at Hiro, giving him a look that basically said, "Are you serious?" He only shrugged and nodded, giving her a smile.

"I'm pretty sure I did. Or maybe I didn't and it just looks broken," she replied sarcastically. "With all the cracks and the dents, it's obviously not broken." She scoffed. "In all seriousness, it looks like the wheels need a little more work. Electromagnetic suspension has yet to work on tanks."

Speed, of course, Hiro thought with a small smile. "Good luck with that, then," was all he could think of saying before he left to search for Honey Lemon. Well, he tried to leave, but GoGo stopped him.

"Hiro, are you sure you're okay?" she asked, her concern beginning to irk Hiro. He pulled away and just smiled at her, but she wasn't convinced. "We're just trying to look out for you, okay?"

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, I know. It's just… I'm fourteen, not a little kid anymore. I should be able to take care of myself." He clenched his fists a bit, some frustration returning. "You don't have to watch out for me all the time, you know."

GoGo just scoffed. "Says the kid who was trying to flee all the time when he was drafted," she teased, inciting a pout from Hiro. Before he could try to explain himself, she shooed him a bit. "We'll talk more later, okay? Right now, I just want to make some progress with these wheels." With that, she hurried to the wreckage to help her assistants remove the wheels and assess the damage.

At Honey Lemon's station, Hiro found that it had been empty. No one had seen her for a while, he realized when he asked around. For a moment, Hiro began to worry. What if she had been taken? Then again, surely she could handle herself…

Trying to convince himself that she was probably really busy, he decided that maybe he should let her work and he went back to his station. Hiro wasn't up for the idea of being alone, now knowing that he was a target of some spies that were probably stalking him like creepers now. Damn spies...

While he was putting the suit prototype through the harshest tests, he completely forgot that he should have paid more attention to his surroundings as well, so it wasn't that much of a surprise when he nearly jumped out of his skin when someone tapped his shoulder.

"Whoops! Sorry, Hiro!" said Honey's voice, much to the boy's relief. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I mean, you just seemed so upset earlier…" She was twiddling her thumbs nervously, though she also seemed excited about something. "Anyway, how's the armor coming along?" From what she could see, the tests were going well, but she hadn't seen all of them.

Hiro was glad they didn't have to talk about earlier. It was already enough for him at the moment to talk with GoGo about it. "It's doing just fine," he answered, turning back to the paper mess on his table. The armor was off to the side while he took notes on what worked and what hadn't, what he'd do next, all that good stuff. Really, it wasn't that hard, but he was trying to find out what to keep the soldiers safe from so that would give them a better chance at winning the war. It could have been a couple of things, it could have been a thousand. Maybe lessen the probability of getting run over by tanks? If GoGo makes them fast enough, it would be possible. "For now, these prototypes can be useful for the next few battles." He began to write a report for the authorities.

Honey was practically bouncing with excitement now. "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed, but stopped when she saw something strange out the corner of her eye. Someone was walking away right now, but she could have sworn that person had been staring. Was this what Tadashi had seen before? "Hm… We should celebrate!" She was all smiles again.

"Not yet. I still haven't tested mobility," Hiro pointed out. "Maybe tomorrow, when Fred and Tadashi come to visit again." After finishing a part of the report, he encrypted the file and locked away all his notes and the tested suit. "That should be all for today."

* * *

><p>There was a bunch of yelling at the infirmary.<p>

"It is recommended that you retain a balanced diet and get plenty of exercise in order to maintain your health," advised a robotic voice despite the loudness of whoever he was talking to. If he could express annoyance, he probably would have done so a hundred times already. Did they not have some vegetables around here at all? Deciding that staying around this sergeant would do no good, the robot moved towards other patients—more appreciative patients.

Footsteps caused Baymax to turn his attention to the door—when convenient, of course—and he saw Hiro and his friends there. It looks like the day was done. Perhaps too eagerly for a robot, Baymax waddled to the entrance of the infirmary.

"Hey, Baymax," Hiro greeted. "What's your battery percentage?"

Baymax proceeded to show a battery icon on his screen. Less than half of the icon was colored, yet not quite red. "It is at twenty-five percent. I suggest returning to your room before it gets too low." Well that was what they were there for. Hiro nodded, took Baymax out of the infirmary, and dragged him back to the room he shared with Wasabi where the charging station was.

"Okay, don't leave the station until morning comes," Hiro said and he flopped down on his bed. He would have passed out, but Baymax tapped him for a moment. "Huh? What now?"

"You normally tell me how your day went. What seems to be the trouble?" The young researcher regretted not deactivating the nursebot before trying to sleep, but he supposed it couldn't be helped now. Baymax only blinked and waited for his answer.

"Just some disturbing news, that's all." Hiro half-expected Wasabi to tell Baymax, but then realized that the man wasn't in the room anymore. Probably went to shower or something before going to sleep. Or he could be meeting with GoGo and Honey again. In any case, Hiro just didn't want to think about it.

"Is it about the disappearance of Dr. Poisson?" the nursebot questioned. Hiro's surprise confirmed his suspicions. "There was news in the infirmary. I suggest a buddy system with your friends from now on." The young scientist said nothing and just pulled his sheets over himself. "Hiro, did you understa—"

"Yes, I get it," was the only reply Baymax got. "I'll be fine, okay?"

"Hiro, you are still troubled, and it is my duty to ensure you are at least content," reminded the robot as he patted Hiro's head. "Would it improve your emotional state if I contacted your friends? Or your brother?" No answer. "Would you like to confide in me?"

The young researcher peeked out from under the sheets. "I just want everyone to stop treating me like a little kid," he admitted, for a moment wondering if GoGo had talked to Wasabi and Honey about that confession.

Baymax tilted his head and blinked. Did he understand, perhaps? "You are still young. Adolescents such as yourself are still in need of guidance, but I do agree that they should let you begin standing on your own two feet," he assessed with a thoughtful air. "I recommend being honest with your friends and brother about what you want. Communication is key." When Hiro remained silent, Baymax waddled to his station and shrunk into his luggage, charging his battery and watching over the boy.

* * *

><p>"You know, you can't keep it from him forever."<p>

"Yes, I get it. I just don't want to worry him."

"I bet he'll figure out before we even go to sleep."

"Okay, so he'll find out really soon! What was I supposed to do?!"

"Tell him the truth? Trying to hide secrets never works for you, Tadashi." It was unusual for Fred to be serious about this stuff. Normally, he would be chatting about science and stuff that really isn't science. "And you need to think about how he'd feel about this stuff. I mean, you're making him way too dependent on you, and in war that's never a good thing."

"Stop being serious, it doesn't suit you," Tadashi muttered. "I don't like serious Fred. Serious Fred doesn't make Dashi very happy."

"Shut up and let me continue," Fred mock-scolded. "As I was saying, Hiro's probably tired of being the damsel in distress. You can't always be there to be his knight in flamboyant armor."

"Wow, just because he likes to put color in the armor." Tadashi rolled his eyes, though the other soldier couldn't see it.

Fred, as well, was rolling his eyes. "Just wait until he finds a way to make the invisible armor," he commented, and then he heard Tadashi make a mock-retching sound. "Now that would be cooler than colorful suits."

"Sure, if you're okay with streaking across the battlefield." They had to refrain from laughing, as the rest of the soldiers were trying to sleep. "Though, wouldn't that just make us invisible instead of the armor being see-through? I wonder what he might do about it." Maybe he shouldn't be thinking about these just yet. Right now, he had to focus on fighting.

"Invisible soldiers! That's an idea!"

"Quiet, you two! The rest of us would like to sleep!"

The two conversing soldiers stiffened in their beds, quieting down immediately, before they decided to whisper to each other.

"Now where was I?" Fred asked himself mostly, as he had realized he had gotten off track. "Oh, right. So, don't you think it's about time the little bird learns to fly? We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

Tadashi said nothing and just tried to sleep. For once, Fred had a point. Hiro was fourteen, he should have been old enough to not rely so much on his brother anymore. As much as he didn't want to, it was high time now that Hiro should learn to take care of himself.

He shall begin tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

**RFC: DO YOU KNOW JUST HOW _DEAD_ I AM RIGHT NOW?! MY ONESHOTS AREN'T EVEN DONE YET!**

**CA: Ryan's writing some oneshots for Christmas. That's only part of the reason why this chapter took so long.**

**RFC: Crazy was busy worrying over something she probably didn't have to be worrying about.**

**CA: Hey! Finals are serious business! I was _lucky_ that I passed them all!**

**RFC: You tried to scream into a fucking pillow. The only reason why you cheered up was because Baymax threw himself off the bed in rage.**

**CA: Baymax ragequits are the best.**

**RFC: As I can see. He also cursed a bit.**

**CA: Anyway, Merry Christmas! This is your present! We'll get started on _Night_ _Watch_ and, finally, _Infected_. Soon enough. By the way, we got a cliffhanger~!**

**RFC: We'll be updating this once again next year. So I hope you all enjoy this beautiful, _beautiful_, chapter, because it's going to be a while.**

* * *

><p>"DONE!" Hiro cheered and flipped off his chair as soon as he did so. God, adjusting that armor took <em>forever<em>! When he didn't get back up, the rest of the group began to get a little worried. It wasn't until Wasabi actually tried to pick him up off the "unsanitized" floor that he shot up and began to look over the armor again. "I _am_ done, right?" That was when he groaned. "If it doesn't work I swear I'm going to shoot myself." God, being a researcher was so damn hard…

Tadashi chuckled a bit. "Aw, don't say that. I'm sure this'll work." Again, he chuckled as his brother tried to shoo him away, as if telling him and Fred to put on the suits already so they could test them. "As you wish, _your highness_." The soldiers slipped into their suits, the former's being red and purple while the latter's was blue and orange, as Hiro picked up a clipboard to write notes in.

"Okay, you know the drill. Start walking." It looked like they were able to walk with ease. The suits didn't look like they're straining as they moved either. "Okay, walking's fine. How about running?" Whether it was due to training or the armor was just right, the two men didn't seem to have slowed down in terms of speed at all. "Good, good. Colors?" They stopped and Hiro couldn't help letting out a laugh. "Flamboyant."

Fred looked over to Tadashi with a smirk and the latter only rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Fred," he said, earning a pout from the other soldier. Adults can pout, you know. They just don't look as adorable as children. If anything, they all actually look pretty ridiculous.

"What? I didn't even say anything," Fred complained, his face looking like someone just stole one of his comic books. The Hamadas just chuckled or giggled. "Looks like someone's suit's riding up on them." He dashed away when Tadashi began to chase him, the others erupting with laughter. For a short while, a red angrily chased a laughing blue.

"Tadashi, behave," Hiro snickered when he calmed down a bit, halting his very unamused brother. He played stern and got another eye-roll until the soldier mentioned sighed and shook his head.

"Yes, Mother." With a final glare at Fred, Tadashi began to get out of the armor and return it to the youngest researcher. Hiro immediately began to write his report. "These seem to work well. You think they're ready for the field?"

"Absolutely! Bring on the machine guns!" Fred cheered, not even making a move to take off his suit. At those words, almost all the researchers looked at him strangely, as if he were crazy, in which he was, and soon went back to their work.

Hiro, on the other hand, wasn't as amused. As confident as he was that the suits would work, He was aware that there was a slight chance things could go wrong. He just hoped it wouldn't be the case.

"They'll be fine, Hiro," Tadashi said ruffling his baby brother's hair. "And hey, now you don't have to shoot yourself! They work just as you wanted them!" Hiro huffed at the topic that had been brought up and gave Tadashi a look that instantly faded when he saw him making a ridiculous face.

"Wh-what the heck is that?" Hiro questioned as he instantly burst into laughter. It was interrupted, however, when Tadashi grabbed his wrist and started pulling him somewhere. "Wait a minute! I need to lock up my stuff!"

"Fine, fine, lock up, but we need to go somewhere right after," the soldier said before letting go and watching his brother chase Fred around again until Wasabi stops the suited soldier, not even looking away from his project, so Hiro could catch up and make Fred take off the suit. They thanked any deity above that the suits could be worn _over_ the uniforms. Once everything was put away or encrypted, the smallest researcher hurried back to Tadashi.

"So, where are you taking me?" Hiro asked curiously. "Do I get to see the battlefield? Or maybe the barracks?" He frowned when the man shook his head. "Then where are we going?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while," Tadashi said lowly. "Maybe it's time you get some training."

This came as a surprise to Hiro. Training? Like military training? "What's gotten into you?" he asked curiously. "You _never_ agreed to me learning this kind of stuff." Tadashi didn't answer him, which only irked him a lot more than he needed to be at the moment. "T'dashi, what's going on with you today?"

"Maybe I figure it's about time I let you grow up," Tadashi said, smiling a bit. "You're fourteen, after all." They reached an empty training clearing. "Well, what should we start with...?" As far as he knew, Hiro didn't carry any concealed guns, and it's not like they could practice shooting right now. "We'll start with a self-defense review. It's been a while since you practiced."

"Self-defense?" Hiro asked, raising a brow. "Really? I don't need that, Tadashi. I already know everything about it. It's like telling me to go to college: you're teaching me things I already know." He crossed his arms smugly.

Tadashi felt a little annoyed at how cocky his little brother was, but then he smirked. "Oh, you _do_, huh?" he asked, smiling a bit. "Okay, POP QUIZ!" Just like that, he grabbed both of Hiro's wrists before he could react, turning him around and pulling his hands behind his back. The soldier's free arm trapped the researcher against his chest, leaving Hiro with little room to move. "Try getting out of this, baby brother."

"Agh! Hey, do you need to go that far?!"

"That's not a typical question to ask your captor."

"Let me go, dammit!"

"They won't listen to you, either."

"Tadashi, I'm serious!"

"C'mon, you should pass this with flying colors, Mr. I-Don't-Need-a-Review!" Tadashi let go of Hiro's wrists and he started giving the boy a noogie. "What ever happened? I just made the quiz a bit easier and you're still failing!"

"Dammit, Tadashi!" Laughter filled the clearing as they continued the scuffle. Hiro was starting to get tired, but he didn't want to admit defeat. He _will_ get out of this eventually! "Fine, fine! Okay! I'll take the review!"

"Too late."

"Tadashi!"

They stopped when they heard laughter off to the side. Taking advantage of the distraction, Hiro slipped out of his brother's loosened grasp, keeping a distance from Tadashi in case he made a move to grab him again.

When the laughter died down and footsteps approached, the brothers saw their friends had apparently come to observe them. "Oh come on, self-defense isn't self-defense without pain," GoGo's voice rang out. "You actually gotta hurt Hiro a bit. Lessen the shock of it a bit."

"Plus the stances," Wasabi chimed in before Tadashi can protest GoGo's idea. "If you want to inflict the most damage yet avoid the most harm, you'll need to learn the stances. And actual defensive techniques."

"Accuracy is important, too," Honey Lemon added, then she turned to Hiro. "So, you satisfied? You're being less smothered now."

The youngest researcher became flustered right then. "Eh? You know? Well, I—"

GoGo lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Save it. Anyway, we're gonna help you out," she declared. "Highly doubt your mama bear is gonna make much progress, anyway."

Again, Tadashi was going to say something, but didn't get the chance to before Fred interrupted. "THE FOUR MASTERS COMBINED SHALL MAKE HIRO THE ULTIMATE NINJA WARRIOR!" the blonde soldier exclaimed excitedly, leading to GoGo punching him twice: once for hurting her ears, once for being an idiot (so she mutters).

"Calm down, we're just teaching him some self-defense."

"_Life _is self-defense."

"Care to explain?"

"So, when do we start?" Hiro asked, cutting off the bickering.

* * *

><p>In the couple days after, Hiro had been feeling a little more confident and energized. Well, just a little. As luck, or misfortune, would have it, everyone was suddenly swamped with work as there was a sudden rush to end the war. Tadashi and Fred had to stay out on the field longer and Honey, GoGo, and Wasabi had to spend extra time on their projects to get them ready as soon as possible. This left little time and energy to actually train.<p>

Hiro himself had much of the past couple of days checking and double checking the mass-produced armor. The suits he worked so hard on were to be used today. When he had heard that, he took it upon himself to check the components of as many as he could, to make sure they were the same as the ones he had tested on Tadashi and Fred. Any anomaly might render the suit useless, and he didn't want to risk anyone—his brother in particular— using a defect. He hadn't found any mistakes, thankfully, but if he recalled, he didn't manage to reach a few before they had to be sent out. He prayed that the ones he didn't check were just as good as the ones he did.

Sighing, the youngest researcher got to work designing more complex suits. This time, rather than simple armor, these will have special abilities. Of course, knowing that each soldier had different interests and talents, he would need to incorporate those into each… individual… suit… "That's gonna take forever," he muttered and then slumped onto his desk.

Just don't think about the current armor, he kept trying to tell himself.

"Hiro!" It was Honey Lemon. "Hiro, you're gonna love this!" She looked as if she was hyped up on sugar, except even more so than usual. Was that a good thing or bad?

"What is it?" Hiro asked, perking up a bit as she bounded toward him.

She stopped her bouncing and then gave him a sheepish smile. "Well, it's a mix of good and bad news, actually," she admitted with a shrug. "Which would you like to hear first?"

"Uh… Bad?" Bad news first so that the good news seemed much better, so he had heard.

She twiddled her thumbs. "Okay, the bad news. Dr. Pipier has gone missing as well. At this point, no one is allowed to go on leave, at least for a while." The blonde perked up just a tad when getting to the good news. "So, we're going to be getting bodyguards. Guess who I heard among the names considered for yours!" she singsonged.

"Are you saying—"

"Yes! They're thinking of taking Tadashi off the field! Isn't that _great_?" Honey was squealing, though perhaps she looked more excited than Hiro was. Actually, he seemed anxious. She mellowed down and her expression changed to one of concern. "Hiro, what's wrong? I thought you'd be happy about this."

The boy blinked. His mind had been too preoccupied by the armor he didn't check. "Huh? Oh, no, it's not that. I'm happy, really," he told her. Should he mention the suits? Probably not... "I guess I just don't want to drag him into something that really shouldn't—" Only the unfinished half-truth came out.

"Don't you _dare_ say anything more, Hiro Hamada," Honey Lemon warned, her tone lowering. She sounded like Wasabi when they swapped his tools and dirtied his office (sometimes you just don't use red and purple paint) on April Fools. "This _should_ be his problem because _you're_ his baby brother."

Hiro cringed at the word "baby," because, really, he never liked it when other people said that. The only person who was actually allowed to say "baby brother" around him was Tadashi. "I can really handle myself, you know. No spy scares me."

Honey sighed, but then gave him a small smile. "Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to be safe rather than sorry," she pointed out. "Besides, at least Tadashi's might be off the field. Of course, nothing's set in stone just yet, but it sounded like they were seriously considering it."

"Cross our fingers, I guess." Unbeknownst to his friend, the youngest researcher was crossing both fingers as hard as he could. When she had put it that way, it made the idea of his brother becoming a bodyguard more appealing, because he'd be away from the constant gunfire. And the possibly defective suits, if there had been any. That was at least something to look forward to.

And yet something told him not to count on it.

* * *

><p>Fred was practically leaping excitedly as everyone charged into battle. By the time he dashed to the front, however, he realized one horrid thing: his nose really needed some scratching. A couple of times he tried to stop the itch by wrinkling his nose, but to no avail. It only got worse. He was so <em>tempted<em> to remove his helmet, but even he knew he couldn't risk getting a bullet implanted into his face. But the itch was driving him crazy! For some reason unable to stand the discomfort and not wanting to tire himself out with the weight of his gun, he removed the strap, threw his weapon down and screamed: "MY NOSE ITCHES!" Because he disarmed himself, the enemy began to shoot wildly at him while Tadashi, Abigail, and a young boy all stared at him with strange looks while he was frantically scratching at the face shield on his helmet as if it would take the itch away.

Tadashi shot at some of the enemy soldiers to shrink the barrage of bullets hitting the blonde soldier. "Fred, your itchy nose should be the least of your worries!" he tried to shout over the noise, but it was futile. His friend was still hopelessly scratching at the helmet and flinching at each bullet that smacked into his armor. Enough was enough and Tadashi knew that he was going to have to kill them all if it meant that Fred wouldn't be constantly shot at.

The youngest soldier nearby picked up Fred's gun and put away his own smaller gun. Tadashi was at first worried that the impact of the shot would send him flying, but the boy had already sent the first shot and he was still standing. Satisfied that his concerns were for naught, he kept firing at the enemy while the boy threw the gun strap over his shoulder and took his own weapon out again, beginning to walk closer to the enemy, still shooting, unaware of the risks of getting too close.

The adult soldier's eyes widened at the realization, and he once again saw Hiro in the younger soldier's place.

Abigail looked worriedly at Tadashi, almost as if she knew what he was thinking. Worried, she grabbed his wrist and held him back so he wouldn't be able to trail after the boy. "Tadashi, no," she hissed. "There's a mine field over there. You can't just run willy-nilly onto it!"

The man brushed her off. "I'm not letting _him_ just walk onto it either," he replied. "Someone has to help." He ran toward the kid and grabbed his shoulder to stop him for a second, but his momentum kept him moving forward. Frantically, Tadashi pushed the other back and away from the mines while he himself stepped on one.

The world didn't even slow down like it did in the movies.

The explosion was deafening, Abigail screamed, the boy couldn't look at the eruption of earth in front of him, and Fred recovered from his itch just to see only a hint of red and purple in the blast of dirt.

When the dirt cleared, Tadashi was nowhere to be found.


End file.
